
c^ 






fr. 


' <y ,, 










^ X* 










aV 










*2** 


*V 




0> 


t/> 



■ **'■%'. *v 



.* u s 



V- Y 







,0o. 



Q^ ^ 



->. 















C* /. 








• l O 



«. 



A 




G 



.-\ A"" ^ fS. ,;: ' '% 'O 



H -^ 



-s>v 



■>-; A ^ v v 



<^, 




-A 



,0o. 




oo 



7 -t V- > 







V 



^ -T. 



SILK CULTURIST'S 
MAJJTAL: 

OR 

A POPULAR TRBATISH 

ON THE PLANTING AND CULTIVATION OF MULBERRY TREES, 

THE REARING AND PROPAGATING OF SILK WORMS, 

AND THE PREPARATION OF THE RAW 

MATERIAL FOR EXPORTATION: 

ADDRESSED TO THE 

OF THE UNITED STATES: 



BY JOHN D'HOMERGUE. 



"A little worm — the source of countless riches, 
Take care of him, and he '11 take care of you." 







PHILADELPHIA. 

PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY HOGAN & THOMPSON, 
KO. 30 NORTH FOURTH STREET. 

18 3 9 
-1* 



\Y 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by 
JOHN D'HOMERGUE, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Eastern District 
of Pennsylvania. 



J. THOMPSON, PRINTER. 



DEDICATION. 



TO 

PETER S. DU PONCEAU, LLD. 

PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 
HELD AT PHILADELPHIA, 

FOR PROMOTING USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, &C. &C. 

THIS WORK, 

IS RESPECTFULLY AND GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/silkculturistsmaOOhome 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



The Author's Address to the Farmers and Planters of the 
United States, - page ix. 

Introduction, ------ 3 

PART I. 

f 
Culture of the Mulberry Tree. 

chapter 1. 

Of the different kinds of Mulberry trees, - - 7 

White Mulberry, (Morus Alba, L.) - - - 8 

Black Mulberry, [Morus Nigra,) - - - 10 

Morus Broussonetica, (Mulberry of Constantinople,) 1 1 

Morus Rubra, (Red Mulberry,) - - - - 1 1 

Morus Multieaulis, 12 

Dandolo or Moretti Mulberry, - - - - 20 

chapter 2. 
Peculiar substance in the Mulberry leaf, and the anal- 
ogy of its constituent elements with silk, - 22 

CHAPTER 3. 

Of the Cultivation of Mulberry trees, - - - 26 
This chapter embraces the following heads : — 

1st. The manner of gathering and preserving the 
seed, - - - - - - - 27 

2d. The soil proper for the raising and plantation 

of Mulberry trees, 30 

3d. The various modes of propagating the Mulber- 
ry trees, 31, 35, 38 

4th. The planting out of the young Mulberry trees, 42 
5th. The grafting and budding Mulberry trees, 45 

A* 



vi. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

6th. The culture, pruning, and management of the 
trees, ------- page 50 

7th. The diseases of the Mulberry trees, - 53 

PART II. 

Of the Silk Worms. 

CHAPTER 1. 

Of the rearing of the Silk Worms, - - - 58 

CHAPTER 2. 

Method of Hatching the Silk Worms, - - - 61 

CHAPTER 3. 

Of the rearing of Silk Worms during their first ages, 66 

CHAPTER 4. 

Rearing of the Silk Worms in the fourth age, - 79 

CHAPTER 5. 

Of the Fifth age — First period, ... 86 

CHAPTER 6. 

Second period of the Fifth age — the Spinning of the 

cocoons, - - - - _ _ .. 103 

CHAPTER 7. 

Of the gathering of the cocoons, and their manage- 
ment for sale or reproduction, - - - 113 

CHAPTER 8. 

Of the changes of the Silk Worm, the coupling of the 
moth, and the gathering and preservation of the 
eggs, - - 126 

CHAPTER 9- 

Remarks on different varieties of Silk Worms, - - 137 

CHAPTER 10. 

Of the Diseases of Silk Worms, - - - 143 

CHAPTER 11. 

Of Cocooneries, - - - - - — - 155 

CHAPTER 12. 

Extract from the work of Count Dandolo, on the sub- 
ject of the preceding chapter, - - - - 159 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii. 

CHAPTER 13. 

Miscellaneous Observations, - page 177 

PART III. 

Of the Preparation of Raw Silk for Exportation. 

CHAPTER 1. 

Preliminary Observations, - - • - - 193 

CHAPTER 2. 

Of the difficulty and importance of the art of Reeling, 214 

CHAPTER 3. 

Of the Filature system and its introduction into this 

country, 242 

CHAPTER 4. 

Of Filatures, their exterior form and internal arrange- 
ments, and other matters relating to them, - 271 

CHAPTER 5. 

Of the Preparations for Reeling, - 279 

CHAPTER 6. 

Of the different qualities of raw silk, - - 286 

CHAPTER 7. 

Of the Reel and other apparatus, -.--.- 294 

Explanation of the plate, figure 1, - - - 302 

Do do do 2, ... 307 

CHAPTER 8. 

Of reeling and preparing the raw material for exporta- 
tion, - - 310 

CHAPTER 9. 

Of the progress of raw silk until it comes to the hands 

of the manufacturer, - - ' - - - 325 

CHAPTER 10. 

Piedmontese Ordinance, concerning Filatures and silk 

reels, of the 8th of April, 1724, - 329 

APPENDIX. 

A. Mr. Boucher's Correspondence with Mr. Du Pon- 
ceau, - - - - i ■ - - - - 339 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. viii. 

B. History of the Silk Bill, - - - page 350 

C. Additional Documents concerning the Silk Bill, - 365 

D. Proceedings in the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 

on the presentation of a flag made of American 

Silk, bearing the colors of the United States, 401 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS 

TO THE 

FARMERS AND PLANTERS 

OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Gentlemen — 

Permit a stranger who has resided ten years 
in your country, who admires its liberal insti- 
tutions and wholesome laws, and above all, the 
spirit of activity and enterprise by which 
your people is animated, which in the short 
period of fifty years, with the aid of intelligence 
and knowledge widely diffused, has raised these 
United States, from obscure colonies, to an em- 
inent and highly dignified station among the 
nations of the earth, to address to you these 
fruits of his labor and experience in a branch 
of industry intimately connected with your 
agricultural pursuits; an industry peculiarly 
suited to your soil and to your climate, and 
which nature herself seems to point out to you 
as the source from which you are to derive 
immense riches. 

Various attempts have been made from the 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. x. 

first settlement of these colonies to introduce 
among you the culture of silk, all of which, 
for reasons which need not be stated here, have 
successively failed, and no trace of them re- 
mains, except a domestic manufacture of infe- 
rior sewing silk, which, during a period of 
near eighty years, has languished in one of your 
states, without producing the least benefit to 
the country at large, or even to the district of 
country in which it has been so long pursued, 
which has remained poor, in the midst of a rich 
produce, while at the foot of the Alps, that pro- 
duce has been to the little Duchy of Piedmont, 
hardly equal in extent to some of your counties, 
and hardly visible on the map of Europe, the ne- 
ver failing source of immense wealth, so that the 
sovereign who rules over those mountains, by 
the title of king of Sardinia, from an insignifi- 
cant island, which he also possesses, is number- 
ed among the principal potentates of Europe. 

Within the last ten or twelve years, this 
country has been awakened to this her most 
important interest. The national and state 
governments have done all in their power to 
give it their support. But their measures have 
been either vacillating, or directed into wrong 



xi. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

channels. They have hitherto had no success, 
and sometimes have produced effects different 
from those that were intended. At last the 
people have taken the matter into their own 
hands. Conventions have heen called to discuss 
the best course to be pursued, and in expecta- 
tion of something more effectual being done, 
mulberry trees have been imported and are now 
importing in large quantities, and command 
enormous prices; manuals and other works, 
for the instruction of the people in the cultiva- 
tion of mulberry trees and the rearing of silk 
worms, are everywhere issuing from the press, 
so that, yielding to the general impulse, I ven- 
ture to contribute my mite towards this impor- 
tant object. 

The two first parts of this Treatise are ex- 
clusively devoted to the subjects above men- 
tioned, to wit : the cultivation of mulberry 
trees and the rearing of silk worms. On these 
topics, you cannot expect much that is new. 
They have been exhausted by the European 
writers, and by your own ; so that the multi- 
plicity of books is become an inconvenience, 
from the difficulty of making a choice from 
among them. Some of them are filled with mi- 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 3 

first settlement of these colonies to introduce- 
among you the culture of silk, all of which, 
for reasons which need not be stated here, have 
successively failed, and no trace of them re- 
mains, except a domestic manufacture of infe- 
rior sewing silk, which, during a period of; 
near eighty years, has languished in one of your 
states, without producing the least benefit to 
the country at large, or even to the district of 
country in which it has been so long pursued, 
which has remained poor, in the midst of a rich 
produce, while at the foot of the Alps, that pro- 
duce has been to the little Duchy of Piedmont, 
hardly equal in extent to some of your counties, 
and hardly visible on the map of Europe, the ne- 
ver failing source of immense wealth, so that the 
sovereign who rules over those mountains, by 
the title of king of Sardinia, from an insignifi- 
cant island, which he also possesses, is number- 
ed among the principal potentates of Europe. 

Within the last ten or twelve years, this 
country has been awakened to this her most 
important interest. The national and state 
governments have done all in their power to 
give it their support. But their measures have 
been either vacillating, or directed into wrong 



xi. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

channels. They have hitherto had no success, 
and sometimes have produced effects different 
from those that were intended. At last the 
people have taken the matter into their own 
hands. Conventions have been called to discuss 
the best course to be pursued, and in expecta- 
tion of something more effectual being done, 
mulberry trees have been imported and are now 
importing in large quantities, and command 
enormous prices; manuals and other works, 
for the instruction of the people in the cultiva- 
tion of mulberry trees and the rearing of silk 
worms, are everywhere issuing from the press, 
so that, yielding to the general impulse, I ven- 
ture to contribute my mite towards this impor- 
tant object. 

The two first parts of this Treatise are ex- 
clusively devoted to the subjects above men- 
tioned, to wit: the cultivation of mulberry 
trees and the rearing of silk worms. On these 
topics, you cannot expect much that is new. 
They have been exhausted by the European 
writers, and by your own ; so that the multi- 
plicity of books is become an inconvenience, 
from the difficulty of making a choice from 
among them. Some of them are filled with mi- 



x ii. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

nute details, of no real use in practice, others 
are too summary, and not a few are obscure and 
not easy to be understood. It is difficult for a 
writer to avoid every fault and to combine every 
advantage ; I do not pretend to have done that. 
I have tried to say all that is necessary to be 
known and nothing more. I have aimed at 
a good method and arrangement of my subject, 
and above all, I have endeavored to express 
myself clearly, and to be understood by alL 
This is all the merit which a work of this kind 
can lay claim to, and I have done all in my 
power to entitle myself to it. I have made no 
display of useless learning ; I have not wan- 
dered into the fields of history ; my simple 
precepts are not accompanied by philosophical 
reflections; I have always kept in mind that I 
was speaking to practical farmers, and not to 
the members of an Historical or Philosophical 
Society. You will judge whether the end 
which I proposed to myself has been sufficiently 
attained. 

The third part of this book relates to the art 
of reeling the silk from the cocoons, and pre- 
paring the rich material for exportation ; for I 
must confess that I believe that this country is 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. x iii. 

not yet ripe for the manufacture of silk. You 
have tried it in Connecticut in the humble man- 
ufacture of sewing silk. During eighty years 
you have made no progress in it, and your silk 
is yet unsaleable in our great markets. Eight 
years ago Congress laid a duty of 40 per cent, 
on foreign sewing silks, which if your domestic 
article had been merchantable, would have 
amounted to a prohibition ; the consequence 
has been \hzX foreign raw silk has been imported 
in large quantities from China and Bengal, and 
only twisted into sewing silk in your country. 
You purchase it every day as American silk ; 
but you are deceived, it is not American. Con- 
gress, by passing this law, meant to encourage 
your agriculture, considering the making of 
sewing silk as connected with it, (which in fact 
it is not) and they have only encouraged the 
silk culturists of other countries, while your 
domestic industry has remained stationary ; and 
has made no progress whatever. You will find 
all that fully explained in the third part of this 
work. Inconsequence of this duty of 40 percent, 
on foreign sewing silk, interests have arisen in 
different parts of this country which may require 
to be attended to. It might perhaps be the cause 

B 



x iv. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS, 

of much injury to those who have embarked 
in twisting establishments under it, if it were 
taken off too suddenly. This however is a 
matter which I have no doubt, will be pro- 
perly considered. 

The reason of this, gentlemen, (for I must 
speak candidly to you) is that you are not suffi- 
ciently skilled in the art of winding off the silk 
from the cocoons, and converting it into what 
is called raw silk. You have been told that it is 
a very easy thing, that every woman may do it 
with little or no instruction ; some have said 
that a proper machine, (say the Piedmont reel) 
is all that is wanted, as if the machine could 
work without hands : but there are others, even 
men in high authority, who have gone farther 
and have told you that American ingenuity has 
improved oi/the Piedmont reel, and that a ma- 
chine has been invented so perfect and so 
simple, that even a child by means of it can 
without the least difficulty, reel silk admirably 
well. This, gentlemen, is an illusion greatly to 
be lamented. I shall be the last man to deny, or 
in the least to question the ingenuity of the coun- 
trymen of Franklin and of Fulton : but I have 
undertaken to prove, and I hope I have clearly 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. XV. 

proved; that what you are said to have per- 
formed, is beyond the power of man. 

However extraordinary it may appear to you, 
it is not the less true, that the art of reeling 
silk from the cocoons is nice and difficult, that 
itjrequires instruction as well as experience, 
and that it is only to be learned by seeing it 
well performed. It is not so with the rearing 
of silk worms; that is a science, which may be 
learned from books, but reeling is an art, which 
no books can teach. Franklin might become 
a natural philosopher, and Bowditch an astrono- 
mer, with only the aid of books and of native 
genius, but no books ever made a cabinet maker, 
a watch maker, or a jeweller, nor a skil- 
ful performer on a musical instrument. Arts 
are only to be taught by ocular and manual 
demonstration, and by practice for some time 
under the eye of a master. I have tried in the 
third part of this work to describe as well as I 
could, the whole process of the art of reeling; 
but, at the same time, I have acknowledged that 
all I have said is not sufficient to make you per- 
fect in it, while, with the aid only of my two 
first books, you may learn to cultivate mulberry 
trees and to rear silk worms, in the most econo- 



xvi. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

mical and most profitable, and consequently, in 
the most perfect manner. 

I endeavor to prove in the third part of this 
book, and I hope I shall be able to convince 
you, that there is but one way of making the 
silk culture profitable to this country, and that 
is by adopting the European system of large 
filatures, which are establishments in which 
raw silk is prepared for exportation or manufac- 
ture, and that the making of sewing silk is no 
part of this business, but belongs to a separate 
profession, which is that of certain mechanics, 
called silk throwsters. Their business is to 
twist raw silk, as it comes from the reel into 
sewing silk, or into other forms, to be employed 
in different manufactures. 

In those large filatures, young females are 
taught the art of reeling; some of them remain 
attached to the establishment, while others, 
after being sufficiently instructed, return to 
their homes, where they reel silk for them- 
selves, and those are called domestic filatures. 

By means of these establishments, the art 
of reeling silk in the perfection required for 
the European manufactures, is disseminated 
throughout the country, and raw silk, thus 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. X vii. 

prepared, becomes a valuable article for sale at 
home, or exportation abroad. 

But this is not all, these establishments afford 
regular and constant markets for cocoons, and 
encourage the farmers to produce them in 
great quantities, by attending to the rearing of 
silk worms ; otherwise they will neglect this 
occupation, or their cocoons will lie useless 
upon their hands. 

It may be said, and it has been said, that 
there is not yet a sufficiency of cocoons in this 
country, to begin with large filatures ; but un- 
less we so begin, there never will be, because 
there will not be sufficient encouragement to 
produce them. On the contrary, as soon as a 
filature is established, and a regular market 
opened, cocoons will appear in abundance, be- 
cause it will be the interest of the farmers to 
produce them. When Georgia was first settled, 
with only a handful of inhabitants, in the midst 
of a wilderness, the British began by establish- 
ing & filature at the town (then village,) of Sa- 
vannah; cocoons immediately appeared as it were 
by enchantment, and raw silk was sent to Eng- 
land in large quantities, considering the then 
situation of that infant colony, and so continued to 



xviii. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

be sent until the revolution, which put an end to 
that promising establishment. In the year 1769, 
(a few years before the Revolution,) your illus- 
trious Franklin, who was then in England, but 
constantly watching over the interests of his 
beloved country, suggested to the American 
Philosophical Society, then lately instituted, 
and of which, though residing abroad, he had 
been elected the first president, the patriotic 
idea of introducing the culture of silk into 
Pennsylvania, and recommended beginning by 
establishing a filature. That learned body took 
up the subject warmly, application was made to 
the Legislature, but, as it appears, without suc- 
cess; a private subscription was then recurred 
to, which had the desired effect. 

Now mind, gentlemen, what the Society did 
on that occasion. They did not employ writers 
to compile manuals on the cultivation of mul- 
berry trees, and the rearing of silk worms, much 
less on the various modes of manufacturing silk; 
they did not attempt to invent new machinery, 
nor offer premiums for improved reels; they did 
not give ear to the schemes of the quacks and pre- 
tenders of that day, but they determined at once 
upon the rational plan of a filature in this city. 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. xix. 

They knew that it would produce mulberry- 
trees, and silk worms, and cocoons, and manuals 
in sufficient abundance. 

The filature was established; the building was 
in Seventh street between Market and Arch 
streets, which was then out of the city: no 
trace of it now remains. I have been told that 
a skilful Frenchman was placed at the head of it ; 
but the record from which these facts are taken, 
only says, that "the Society procured the ne- 
cessary machine (no doubt the Piedmont reel,) 
to wind the cocoons." It adds that the silk reel- 
ed at that filature was "not inferior in goodness 
to the best from France or Italy." This sounds 
like exaggeration, even if Dandolo himself had 
been placed at the head of the filature. Be 
that as it may, the fact to which I wish to draw 
your attention is, that from the 25th of June 
to the 15th of August, 1771, (less than two 
months,) 2,300 pounds of cocoons were brought 
to the filature to be reeled, or were bought by 
the managers.* 

Two thousand three hundred pounds of co- 
coons! where did these come from? Why, 
gentlemen, from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and 
Delaware, not an ounce from any other place. 

• Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, vol. i., p. 64. 



XX. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

This is almost miraculous; but it is not the less 
true, and shows what filatures can produce, and 
how superior this system is to any other that 
can be devised. 

The revolution also put an end to this noble 
establishment. 

I shall only add a recent example to complete 
this proof. When in 1830 and 1831, an experi- 
mental filature under my direction, was estab- 
lished at Philadelphia, cocoons were brought to 
us in abundance, from all parts of the Union, and 
they continued to come for a long time after- 
wards, (for the market had acquired a reputa- 
tion) but then they could find no purchasers. 

You see, gentlemen, that all that is required 
to insure the production of cocoons, is a good 
market, and that no such market can be estab- 
lished but by means of a filature. 

I shall now proceed to speak to you of the 
last attempt which has been made to introduce 
the filature system into this country 5 but which 
has unfortunately failed. I shall be obliged to 
dwell at some length upon this subject. 

In the year 1829, I published, in conjunc- 
tion with Mr. Du Ponceau, a series of Essays, 
in which these principles were for the first 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. xxi. 

time presented to the consideration of the Ame- 
rican public. I had, then, just arrived from 
Marseilles, in France, where I made my resi- 
dence, having abandoned the silk business, to 
which I had been brought up, and taken to 
other pursuits. I was induced to come to this 
country by the agent of a society established 
in this city for promoting the culture and 
manufacture of silk. I had no idea of these 
promoting societies. From the brilliant pros- 
pects held out to me by their agent, I saw the 
mines of Peru open before me ; he showed me 

a paper written ill an unknown tongue, Of 

which I could only make out the words " Pre- 
sident," "Vice President," "Secretary," 
"Treasurer;" the word Treasurer struck 
me particularly. I expected no less than to be 
placed at the head of a large filature, to which, 
perhaps, a throwing establishment might be at- 
tached. On my arrival, instead of a company 
of capitalists, I found an association of about 
thirty excellent patriots, intent on promoting 
the culture, and even the manufacture of silk, 
but whose annual income did not exceed two 
or three hundred dollars. I was, therefore, 
completely disappointed. 



xxii. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

In this situation, it was my good fortune to 
become acquainted with John Vaughan, Esq., 
the stranger's friend, and one of the most ac- 
tive and efficient members of the American 
Philosophical Society. He introduced me to 
the President of that learned institution. 

I had found great difficulty in making my- 
self understood of my patriotic friends, (per- 
haps, because I did not speak their language,) 
1 found none with that gentleman ; he had ne- 
ver turned his attention before to the business 
of silk; but the explanations that I gave him 
soon made him familiar with if, at least, suffici- 
ently to make him understand the difficulty 
and the importance of the art of reeling silk 
from the cocoons. He became convinced that 
the filature system was the only means by which 
the culture of silk could be made a source of 
profit to this country ; he proposed to me to 
write a series of Essays to be published in 
the newspapers, in which the advantages of 
this system should be clearly explained to the 
American nation, and offered to give me his 
assistance. 

The Essays were written, not without diffi- 
culty. Some errors crept in them, and it is 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. xxiii. 

astonishing there were not more, when it is 
considered that I did not know one word of the 
language, and that my kind assistant had not 
yet become sufficiently familiar with the de- 
tails of this intricate subject. They were writ- 
ten in great haste, and successively appeared, 
in the National Gazette, from which they were 
copied into almost all the newspapers of the 
union. This great popularity induced us to 
reprint them in a pamphlet, which went off ra- 
pidly. It attracted the attention of Congress, 
who referred it to their Committee on Agricul- 
ture, with power to enter fully upon the sub- 
ject, and report on the best course to be pur- 
sued. The committee immediately perceived 
the importance, as well as the difficulty of the 
art of reeling, and how necessary it was that it 
should be brought to perfection in this coun- 
try. They unanimously determined to estab- 
lish a normal filature for the instruction of the 
people, and to place me at the head of it. By 
their Chairman, who was then the venerable 
Ambrose Spencer, of New York, they wrote to 
Mr. Du Ponceau, and desired him to ask of me 
on what terms I would accept that employment. 
They proposed a plan which Mr. Du Ponceau 



xxiv. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

thought could not be carried into execution with- 
out too much expense, and which was besides lia- 
ble to many difficulties. He suggested another 
on a more moderate scale, to which I agreed, 
on the terms that he thought proper to dictate, 
and he was not disposed to throw away the mo- 
ney of the United States. This plan was adopted 
by the committee, and a bill, embracing all its 
details, was reported to Congress. It remained 
pending there during three sessions, and on the 
22d of May, 1832, was finally rejected. 

I have thought proper, gentlemen, to insert 
in the appendix to this work, a history of this 
bill, which has become generally known un- 
der the name of the silk MIL accompanied 
with authentic documents in confirmation of 
it. Several reasons have induced me to do 
this. In the first place, I believe that the 
silk bill will be considered as an important 
part of the history of silk in this country, and 
therefore, it seems necessary that it should be 
known with all the circumstances that attend- 
ed it. But there is another reason which is 
personal to me, and which, in justice to myself, 
makes it necessary that it should be known in 
all its details. It has been reported in the 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. XX V. 

newspapers and elsewhere, that I had applied 
to Congress for employment, and it has even 
been said in the debates upon the bill, that its 
only object was to set me up in my line of busi- 
ness. I owe to myself, not only to contradict 
these assertions, but to prove their falsity, in the 
clearest manner. I have a reputation to pre- 
serve as well as others, and I hope the time will 
come when it will be acknowledged that my fee- 
ble efforts to promote the true interest of this 
country, as far as they are connected with the 
silk culture, have not been entirely useless. It 
will appear from the documents that I publish, 
that I never made any application to Congress 
for aid or assistance of any kind, and that I 
only accepted the propositions that were made 
to me without any solicitation on my part. 

I must own that the ill success of this bill as- 
tonished me greatly. I had every reason to 
believe that it would pass into a law, otherwise 
I would not have sacrificed three years of my 
life in the hope of its success. It was in fact 
offered to me. The unanimous report of the 
Committee on Agriculture and the favor with 
which it appeared to be received by Congress, 
completely deceived me. Other business had 
c 



xxvi. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

prevented its being acted upon during the two 
first sessions, but I had reason to believe that it 
was intended that it should pass. I would, how- 
ever, have left this country, had it not been 
for the efforts that were made to induce me to 
remain ; as you will see in the appendix, p. 362a 
At the session of 1831 and 1832, a new Com- 
mittee on Agriculture was appointed, of which 
the honorable Erastus Root of New York, was 
the chairman; that committee^ I was informed, 
was opposed to the bilh Mr. Du Ponceau and 
I went to Washington, and appeared before 
them. The chairman, Mr. Root, and most of 
the members were decidedly hostile. We were 
examined, cross examined, and re-examined be- 
fore that committee, and the result was that at 
least a majority of them changed their opinion 
entirely. The chairman, from an enemy, be- 
came a zealous friend to the bill, and support- 
ed it with eloquence in the debates upon it in 
Gongress, The opinion of that body did not 
appear at that time to be so generally in favor 
of the measure as in the two preceding years. 
Some symptoms of hostility appeared, but still 
we expected that the friends to the bill would 
prevail. It had many powerful friends in and 
out of the House. 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. XXvii. 

The late President, General Jackson, was in 
favor of it. "I hope," said he to Mr. Du Pon- 
ceau, " that you will succeed." His name was 
made use of in Congress against the hill, on the 
last day of the discussion; but I am convinced 
that it was entirely without the knowledge or 
participation of the venerable chief. 

The present Vice President, Richard M. 
Johnson, was in favor of it, as may be seen by 
the paper in the appendix B, p. 362, to which 
his name is subscribed, with many others. 

The then Secretary of State, Mr. Livingston, 
was in favor of it, and so was the honorable 
Andrew Stevenson, the Speaker of the House, 
although his situation obliged him to use more 
circumspection than he would otherwise have 
done. 

Many others whom I might name were or 
expressed themselves of the same opinion. I 
do not speak of the eminent men who were 
amongst the respectable minority that voted 
for the bill, such as the venerable ex- President 
John Quincy Adams, Governor Everett of Mas- 
sachusetts, Governor White of Louisiana, and 
other distinguished characters. In short, the 
bill had a host of friends at Washington, so that 



xxviii. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

I was truly astonished when I saw it rejected by 
a small majority the very day after its having 
reported to the House, by themselves sitting 
as a Committee of the Whole. To the last mo- 
ment I thought that the result would be other- 
wise. Some of my too zealous friends have 
thought that Congress had done me wrong by 
coquetting with me during three sessions and 
at last suddenly letting me go. I am too well 
acquainted with the course of human affairs, to 
join in that opinion. The fact is, that Mr. 
Du Ponceau pressed Congress for a final deci- 
sion at a time when the highest degree of agi- 
tation prevailed in it. There was the tariff, 
nullification, and the Bank of the United States 
more than sufficient to distract the mind of ma- 
ny a wise politician. It is no wonder there- 
fore, that in the midst of such a storm, my 
little bark was shipwrecked. I have no com- 
plaint to make of Congress, I ought to have 
known, that great political bodies are not 
always of the same mind ; in future, I shall take 
care to follow the advice of the inspired writer : 
"Put not your trust in Princes!' 7 

Some persons have thought that by endeavor- 
ing to introduce the filature system into this 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. XXIX. 

country. I was acting to the prejudice of France. 
which you know to be the greatest silk manufac- 
turing country in the world. The late French 
Ambassador, Mr. Serurier. who resided at 
Washington while the silk bill was pending. 
was of that opinion, and expressed it publicly 
and without reserve. I am. gentlemen, a French- 
man, and nothing shall ever tempt me to be- 
tray the interest of my native Country. But I 
am of a different opinion, from that Minister. 
I was encouraged by the silk manufacturers of 
France, who are the most interested in the ques- 
tion. France wants raw silk, and I thooght, and 
still think, that she may as well purchase it from 
the United States, as from Italy and other coun- 
tries for her manufactures; as the time is far 
Qt '■"•'hen America will rival her admirable 
~: ; . which no other nation lias yet succeed- 
ed to imitate. With the utmost respect for 
Mr. Serurier s opinion. I think he was, in 
this case, under a wrong impression, in which 
I cannot participate. 

But whether he was right or wrong. I have 
geasoB to be astonished that his opposition, 
which was well known at Washington, in and 
out of Congress, did not ensure the passage of 
the silk bill, for it showed that he well un- 



XXX. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

derstood that the plan I proposed, if adopted 
by the nation, could not fail to succeed. I am, 
therefore, right in ascribing its failure to the 
agitated state of the public mind at that time. 
A bill, the mere proposal of which, excited 
the jealousy of foreign nations, would in other 
times, have passed unanimously. But fate had 
decided it otherwise. 

After the lapse of six years, I have been 
much gratified to find that when the silk bill, 
as I thought, was almost forgotten, a third com- 
mittee on agriculture, at the head of which 
is the honorable J. F. Randolph, of New Jersey, 
expressed their approbation of its principles, 
as suited to the time when it was proposed, 
though it was at present useless, for a reason 
which you will see explained in the following 
extracts from their report of the 20th of 
April, 1838. They express themselves in these 
words : 

u Thus perished the first important mea- 
sure proposed by the nation to promote the 
production of silk in this country ; a measure 
which the committee believe, with the lights 
then in existence, was wise, prudent, and im- 
portant, but which the subsequent ingenuity 
and experience of our countrymen now render 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. xxxi. 

unnecessary; believing, as they do, that the 
recent improvements in reeling will do more 
in a few weeks than the establishment of many 
normal schools upon the old plan would do in 
many years." — (Report, p. 6.) 

In another part of the same report it is said, 
that, " the dull, tedious method of reeling by 
hand, which required a regular apprenticeship 
to learn, and years to acquire facility in the 
use of, has given way to the new patent reel, 
by which a person (even a child) may learn in 
a few hours to reel, with great ease and expe- 
dition, a much more even thread than by the 
old process." — (p. 5.) 

Then, gentlemen, the whole of this great 
question is reduced to a single point, which is 
a matter of fact, which any mechanician, with 
the light that this work throws upon the sub- 
ject, may in a moment decide. If your coun- 
try is really possessed of that wonderful ma- 
chine, that Aladdin's lamp so loudly proclaim- 
ed, then all I have written must go for nothing, 
and I shall rejoice with you at the prospect of 
immense wealth that it opens to view ; if on the 
contrary it should be found, as I have attempt- 
ed to demonstrate, that no machinery whatever 



XXxii. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

can produce the effects that are pretended ; 
then the system which I recommend, that is 
the filature system, which was the basis of the 
silk bill, must be now as wise, as prudent and 
as important as when it was first proposed, and 
you have in its favour not only the opinion of 
the two committees of Congress on agriculture 
of 1830 and 1832, but also that of the commit- 
tee of 1838, which, (saving the wonderful ma- 
chine,) agrees entirely with the former ones. 

Since this last report was made, I observe 
that the public opinion, on the subject of silk, 
has undergone a great change, and that it is 
now well understood that it is not a safe method 
to "improve first and learn afterwards." Con- 
ventions of the friends of the silk culture have 
already been held in different States. At those 
which were held at Baltimore, Philadelphia, 
and Harrisburg, I find that the Piedmontese 
reel has now obtained the general favor, and 
that improved reels are no longer talked of. I 
have read with great pleasure in the Farmers' 
Register, an excellent periodical, printed at 
Petersburg in Virginia, an eloquent speech, de- 
livered by a gentleman who distinguished him- 
self by his opposition to the filature system, and 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. xxxiii. 

who was himself the inventor of an improved 
reel,* in which he passes a high and well me- 
rited eulogium upon that of Piedmont, which he 
says is superior to all others, and the general use 
of which he recommends to his fellow citizens. 
" All we want, 7 - says he, "to secure the pre- 
cedence over the very factories of Italy herself, 
is the uniformity and excellence of reeling. By 
it we will kill every silk worm in Europe. 
The Italians themselves, to say nothing of 
France and England, will give us twenty or 
thirty per cent, more for our raw silk than 
they will for any produced in Europe. "f 

This seems rather exaggerated, besides that 
Italy exports and does not import raw silk, but 
it shows the opinion of the orator very different 
from what it was ten years ago, when he so 
gallantly attacked in a learned series of news- 
paper publications, the essays which I had then 
published, and in which I tried to inculcate 
precisely the same principles. He then pro- 
ceeds to eulogise the Piedmont reel in warm 
energetic language, and in much stronger terms 
than any I have used in the present work. 

* Gideon B. Smith, Esq. of Baltimore. 

j- Farmers' Register, vol. 7, No. 2, February, 1839, p. 86, 



xxxiv. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

The learned gentleman, however, does not 
appear to have abandoned with his improved 
reel all his former prejudices ; for he seems to 
think that the Piedmont reel works alone, in- 
dependently of the skill of the reeler, and that 
the uniformity of the machine will, of course, 
produce uniformity of silk; in short, that it 
will produce of itself the excellent raw silk 
which he agrees with me in saying, that it is 
the only thing you want. I have no doubt that 
after reading this book, and particularly the 
Piedmontese Ordinance, he will sacrifice this 
last mistaken opinion, as he has generously done 
so many others. 

The system of exportation, also, is gaining 
great favor; it has been recommended in the 
conventions of which I have just spoken; with 
what success I know not; but I have no doubt 
that its advantages will be ultimately apprecia- 
ted. 

I understand that other conventions, on the 
subject of the silk culture, are to be held. One 
is announced to take place at Hartford in Con- 
necticut, some time in the course of next month. 
1 am very glad to see that the intelligent silk 
culturists of that state are to take that subject 



THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. XXXV. 

into their serious consideration. Their coun- 
try abounds in mulberry trees, and they pro- 
duce annually an immense quantity of cocoons; 
it is in that neighborhood that it is particularly 
desirable to see a filature established. If their 
funds are not sufficient, they have at their door 
the great State of New York, so distinguished 
for its wealth and enterprise. But wherever 
the thing may be begun, I venture to predict 
that the first filature that will be established in 
the United States will, by quickening and en- 
couraging the silk culture throughout the coun- 
try, be able to supply itself with cocoons in 
sufficient quantity for its purpose, and in the 
end will prove to you an abundant source of 
riches, and lead you to that high degree of 
prosperity to which you are destined. 

Although I have kept silence during the last 
eight years, I have not been inattentive to the 
progress of the silk culture in this country. I 
have remained faithful to the filature system, 
which I first recommended to you in the year 
1829. The silk bill was only a development of 
that system, and a means to carry it into exe- 
cution. I did not ask for that legislative favor; 
it was offered to me, and I am thankful for it, 



XXXvi. THE AUTHOR'S ADDRESS. 

though it ultimately failed. The renewed at- 
tention which has been lately paid to the sub- 
ject of silk, and the great zeal which it has pro- 
duced for the promotion of that object, has in- 
duced me, with the aid of the same kind friend 
who in 1829 assisted me in the composition 
of the essays, again to appear before you, and to 
communicate to you the knowledge that I pos- 
sess of many important facts which I have ac- 
quired from practice and experience, and which 
you had not before the opportunity of knowing, 
because silk is yet, as it were, an exotic pro- 
duction in your country. I ask nothing of you 
but your good will, and if I have contributed 
in some degree to the further advancement of 
your hitherto unexampled prosperity, I shall 
have obtained the highest reward which I could 
ever have expected for these feeble efforts. 

Accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my pro- 
found respect, 

J. D'HOMERGUE. 

Philadelphia, April 2Qth, 1839. 



THE 



SILK CULTURISrS 



MANUAL. 



INTRODUCTION. 



To make known the different species of the 
Mulberry tree, and point out those which are 
the most proper for the food of the Silk Worm ; 
to exhibit, circumstantially, the best manner of 
raising these worms, of selecting the Cocoons, 
and of winding off the Silk, especially at the 
time when there is a fair prospect of introdu- 
cing the culture of this valuable article into the 
United States, are the principal motives of my 
engaging again on this subject. 

To write upon any thing which is the imme- 
diate object of practice, is by no means so use- 
less as the bulk of practitioners imagine. Ag- 
riculture and all parts of husbandry have long 
been arts of common practice, and yet will be 
subjects proper to be treated of, so long as they 
are capable of improvement ; and even though 
they were not capable of being further ira- 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

proved, yet, it would be necessary to make 
public what was already known, that persons 
who have not the opportunity of being instruct- 
ed, might be encouraged to begin their journey 
by having some directions of the road. In 
France and Italy, though the culture of silk has 
long been a practical art, yet, books are still 
written upon that subject, which have, without 
doubt, this good consequence, that they engage 
many in that business who would otherwise 
never have thought of it, because they had no 
rule to set out by. 

The several publications which have been 
printed on this subject, have not explained even 
the present practice in such a manner as to 
extricate persons from the difficulties they 
would meet in their first trials, much less have 
they attempted to lay any foundation for future 
improvements; they were too concise to take in 
the various incidents that might embarrass a 
young practitioner, and, in many difficult parts, 
so obscure, that they seem to be only verbal trans- 
lations, without any knowledge of the subject. 
As an instance of this, let any one read the de- 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

scription given of the different reels invented; 
there is either a total neglect, or a total igno- 
rance of its most essential movements. We need 
not mention the many material circumstances 
which are omitted in the hatching, feeding, and 
obtaining the breed of silk worms. 

In the following treatise we have attempted to 
bring together the best information, and the 
most material facts which have been published 
by different authors, and, having ourselves many 
times gone through the practice of the different 
parts into which we have divided the subject, we 
have taken occasion to mention such improve- 
ments as we had actually tried, and also to sub- 
mit such as we had reason to think would, on 
trial, be found useful : by these means attempt- 
ing to impart what we already knew, and direct- 
ing to such trials as might discover more than we 
knew, and striving to enter so far into the rea- 
sons of things, as might give some light to future 
discoverers. 

If some should think we have treated the sub- 
ject too minutely, we can only say, that this was 
owing to our observing that brevity in rules 
2* 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

which were to be put in practice was often the 
cause of obscurity and error. 

In short, it may happen that this treatise 
may be speedily censured, and slowly found 
useful ; or it may, without either praise or cen- 
sure sleep in obscurity. But, while we are con- 
scious of the intention with which it has been 
written, and are of opinion that it can, at least, 
do no injury to the cause which produces it, 
we shall not add solicitude about its credit, to 
the trouble it has already cost us. 



PART I. 



CULTURE OF THE MULBERRY TREE. 



CHAPTER I 



OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF MULBERRY 
TREES. 

The mulberry tree is the foundation of the 
silk culture, its leaves being the only food 
so peculiarly adapted to the worm which affords 
us its rich materials, that no other can be sub- 
stituted for it, with any advantage, whatever 
authors may have stated to the contrary at va- 
rious periods ; experience has not only shown 
that the silk worm has no other aliment proper 
to its nature than the mulberry leaf, but it is 
also ascertained to be extremely hurtful to this 
delicate insect to change the quality of the leaf, 
as inexperienced persons in rearing them are 
too apt to do. The cocoons produced by 
worms uniformly fed with the same kind of leaf 
are always more beautiful, finer, richer in silk, 
and of a more delicate texture. 

The first silk worms reared in Europe were 
fed on the black mulberry leaves, the only spe- 



8 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

cies then cultivated there, as would appear^ 
although it was well known that the white mul- 
berry was cultivated in Greece. 

But the white mulberry, (Morus Alba, L.) 
was soon after introduced into all the temperate 
regions of Europe. 

This mulberry tree offers three advantages: 
the leaf is earlier, and thus the care of the silk 
worm is not protracted too much into the hot 
season. It also gives a much greater abundance 
of leaves in a shorter period, and their quality 
produces the sort of silk most approved of by 
the manufacturers. But there is a considera- 
ble difference in the quality of the white mul- 
berry trees. Count Dandolo, the great silk cul- 
turist of Italy, considers those as the best which 
grow in Lombardy, under the name of Foglia 
Giazzola, of a middle sized leaf, dark green, 
and Foglia Doppia, of small leaf, of a dark 
colour, rather thick, more difficult to pick, and 
well calculated for the nutriment of silk worms, 
the leaf of which contains five different substan- 
ces: 1st, the solid, or fibrous substance; 2d, the 
coloring matter; 3d, water; 4th, the saccharine 
substance ; 5th, the resinous substance. 

The solid or fibrous substance, the coloring 
matter, and the water, excepting what in part 
composes the body of the silk worm, cannot 
be said to be nutritive to that insect; the 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 9 

saccharine matter is, therefore, the only part 
which nourishes it, promotes its growth, and 
forms its animal suhstance ; the more the leaves 
contain of it, in comparison with the other ele- 
ments which compose it, the better is the tree 
adapted to the purposes of the silk culture. 

The resinous substance is that, which, sepa- 
rating itself gradually from the leaf, and, attract- 
ed by the animal organization, accumulates, 
clears itself, and insensibly fills the two reser- 
voirs, or silk vessels, which form the integral 
parts of the silk worm. According to the dif- 
ferent proportion of the elements which com- 
pose the leaf, it follows that cases may occur in 
which a greater weight of leaf may yield less 
that is useful to the silk worm, as well for its 
nourishment, as with respect to the quantity of 
silk obtained from the animal. 

Thus the leaf of the black mulberry, hard, 
harsh, and tough, with which the worm is fed 
in some parts of Spain, Sicily, Calabria and 
Greece, produces abundant silk, the thread of 
which is very strong, but coarse. 

The white mulberry leaf of the tree planted 
in high lands, exposed to cold dry winds, and 
in light soil, produces, generally, a large quanti- 
ty of strong silk, of the purest and finest quality. 

The leaf of the same tree, planted in damp 
situations, in low grounds, and in a stiff soil, pro- 



10 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

duces less silk, and of a quality less pure anJ 
fine. The less of the nutritive substance the 
leaf contains, the more leaves must the silk worm 
consume to complete their development. 

The result must therefore be, that the silk 
worm which consumes a large quantity of leaves 
less nutritive, must be more fatigued, and more 
liable to disease, than the silk worm which eats a 
smaller proportion of more nutritive leaves. 

The same may be said of those leaves, which, 
containing a sufficiency of nutritive matter, con- 
tain little resinous substance, in that case, the 
insects would thrive and grow, but probably 
would not produce either a thick or strong 
cocoon, proportionate to the weight of the 
worm, as sometimes occurs in unfavorable sea- 
sons. 

The black mulberry is the least advantageous 
for silk worms, because it produces a coarse silk, 
and much litter and moisture, which proceeds 
from its fruit ; for these reasons, therefore, it 
ought not be used as a food for silk worms. 
The Spanish mulberry would have the same 
effect, if the silk worm were fed a long while 
with its thick and fat leaf. Persons skilled in 
the care of silk worms, do not touch this leaf 
before the moment of the greatest consumption, 
and at the time when they need to be filled 
with substantial nourishment. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 11 

The mulberry of Constantinople, {Morus 
Broussonetica, from the name of Mr Brous- 
sonet, a distinguished professor,) with a low and 
stunted trunk, very short branches, and leaves 
much clustered together; this species is diffi- 
cult to be got, and yet more so to be propagated. 

The red mulberry, (Morus Rubra,) which 
is indigenous to North America, and bears very 
large, numerous, wrinkled leaves, would also 
afford an excellent food for silk worms, if care 
were taken to engraft, or better yet, to inocu- 
late it with rings of bark taken from the best 
white mulberry ; it is small, not very succulent, 
of a dark green, shining, and contains little 
water, which may be easily ascertained by dry- 
ing some of its leaves ; otherwise we cannot 
recommend it as food for the worms. 

There is another species of white mulberry 
which bears a middle-sized leaf, thick, and of 
a dark green color. When the trees are not 
exposed to a dry atmosphere, and are not in 
light soils, they bear a large quantity of leaves, 
but they are not then of such a nature as to afford 
much silk. It appears that nature more easily 
produces leaves abounding in nutritive matter, 
than those which produce resinous or silky sub- 
stances. 

Besides the varieties of the mulberry tree 
above mentioned, there is one, which, if we may 



12 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

believe the high commendations of it, is su- 
perior to all others for the silk worm. We mean 
the mulberry of the Philippine Islands, (Morus 
Multicaulis,) thus called by M. Perottet, and 
often confounded by amateurs in general with 
the ordinary mulberry of China, (Mortis Alba 
Sinensis,) which, though resembling it a little 
in exterior appearance, differs materially from 
it in essential qualities. 

This is a new and most valuable species of 
mulberry, which has been of late, the object of 
very great observation and experiment among 
cultivators in Europe, as well as in the United 
States. It is represented as possessing such 
decided superiority over all others, as to be 
speedily substituted for them in every part of 
the globe. 

This tree was brought from Manilla, the 
capital of the Philippine Islands, to France in 
1820, by M. Samuel Perottet, a celebrated 
naturalist employed by the French government. 
The Chinese inhabitants assured him that, to 
this tree, the disciples of Confucius are indebt- 
ed for the prosperity and solidity of their em- 
pire, and that it is the only species used by them 
in the production of the finest silks, such as they 
weave into stuffs exclusively for their own use. 

The Morns Multicaulis is already propa- 
gating in many parts of Europe and the United 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 13 

States, and probably will be substituted for, and 
preferred to all other varieties. It is gen- 
erally known in Europe, by a name derived 
from its origin, that is, the "Mulberry of 
the Philippine Islands. In botanical language 
M. Perottet has called it Morus Multicaulis, 
on account of its roots having the property of 
putting forth many branches. Another eminent 
agriculturist, (Matthew Bonafous,) has thought 
it a better designation to call it Moras Cucul- 
lata, because the leaves have a concave form, 
inasmuch as the botanic description marks it by 
the following characteristics, Morus foliis cor- 
datis, basi iniqualibus, viz lobatis, dentaiis, 
amplissimiSj cucullatis; mulberry with leaves 
heart-shaped, unequal at the base, scarcely 
divided into lobes, indented, very large and 
concave. Among the other qualities of this 
tree, it is affirmed that a less quantity of its fo- 
liage is required for the precious insect than 
of other species. 

The lower branches of the Morus Multicau- 
lis, are ordinarily straight and small, so that they 
bend easily under the weight of the leaves in 
the manner of a weeping willow, (Salyx Baby- 
loniensisj) but those which grow from the 
crown of the roots attain often a height of six 
feet perpendicular. The fruit, which was 
unknown in Europe till 1830, consists of a 
3 



14 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

small number of black pulpy grains, of wbicli 
only a few arrive at maturity. It is said that! 
these grains used as seed ? seldom give a tree; 
resembling the one upon which they grew. Toi 
obtain one precisely similar, it is usual to re- 
sort either to inoculation or to cuttings; this 
last method is the best for the rapid propaga- 
tion of this tree, because the cuttings take rooti 
in a very short time and grow quickly. This 
species having its origin in the most northern 
part of the Philippine Islands, where the cli- 
mate is much cooler than farther south, it would 
seem easy to naturalize it in all those countries 
where the white mulberry is cultivated. In fact, 
the experiment has already justified this hope., 
In the dreadful winter of 1829-30, in the coldest 
districts of Italy, where this mulberry had been 
introduced, only the smaller extremities of the 
limbs perished. It also withstood the hard win- 
ter of 1 828, in the field of M. A . Eyries, at Havre. 
We are also informed that it has resisted the rig- 
ors of several winters uninjured and unprotected 
on the plantation of Madame Parmentier, of 
Brooklyn, L. I. Prussia, Bavaria, and Sweden 
are in possession of this very useful tree, and we 
are informed that it grows in those countries per- 
fectly well. The experiments made in France, 
by Messrs. Audibert, of Tarascon, Barthere, of 
Toulouse, and Deslong-champs, of Paris, and 
those made by Messrs. Bonafous and others in 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 15 

Italy, on this interesting question, have con- 
firmed all that has been previously asserted re- 
specting the quality of silk produced by that 
plant. They have further proved, that the 
cocoons made by the worms fed with this quali- 
ty of leaves, are rather heavier and produce 
silks comparatively finer, more elastic, and in 
greater quantity than those fed with the leaf of 
the common tree. 

It has been ascertained, 
1st. That the Morns Multicaulis, does not 
require any particular soil, as exclusively suit- 
able to its growth, but prospers even in a wet 
soil, which it seems to prefer. 

2d. That it yields very little fruit, so that 
the leaves are more easily cleaned, and less mat- 
ter of a fermenting nature is introduced into 
the body of the silk worm. 

3d. That it does not rise too high, and yields 
a greater quantity of leaves which can easily be 
gathered by women or children. 

4th. That it puts forth its thin, tender and 
soft leaves earlier than other mulberries, which 
permits the period of hatching of the silkworms 
to be anticipated some days. 

5th. That the roots possess the remarkable 
property of throwing up numerous small flexi- 
ble stalks, without forming properly a principal 
trunk. 



16 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

6th. That these stalks assume in a very short 
time a great length. 

7th. That the leaves speedily acquire a re- 
markable development^ and are promptly re- 
newed. 

8th. That these stalks or branches strike root 
as cuttings, with extraordinary facility, without 
particular care, even before they have acquir- 
ed a ligneous or woody consistence. 

It may be proper here to give place to some 
remarks on the culture and uses of the Morus 
Multicaulis, by M. Perottet himself, which 
will be found very interesting. 

"The Morus Midticaulis, which we noti- 
ced for the first time in the Annals of the 
Linnean Society of Paris, appears to have ori- 
ginated in the elevated regions of China ; from 
whence it has been disseminated throughout the 
low plains near the sea shore. It is believed 
that it is cultivated in all parts of that vast em- 
pire where the raising of silk worms is an ob- 
ject of commercial importance. From Canton 
it was introduced into Manilla and all the islands 
of the Asiatic Archipelago, where it was only 
cultivated for ornamenting gardens. The Chi- 
nese are entitled to the credit of this introduc- 
tion, who, in emigrating from their country, 
have from motives of industry, endeavored to 
multiply it, that they might render it useful to 
themselves in the new country of their adoption. 

"The fortunate discovery of this precious 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 17 

plant, occurred in the garden of a Chinese at 
Manilla, who, after having informed us of its 
properties, and the important purpose for which 
it was used in his own country, yielded to our 
solicitations and sold us two bushes for ten Span- 
ish dollars, assuring us that he had introduced 
it into Manilla, where it has been considerably 
extended. 

"In August we brought it from Manilla, 
and first introduced it into the Isle of Bourbon, 
from thence into Cayenne and France. At a 
later period, it was sent from Cayenne to Mar- 
tinique, and from France to Guadeloupe, and 
also to Senegal, where it has considerably multi- 
plied. The numerous plants which are already 
disseminated in the various climates of Africa, 
America and Europe, have been all produced 
from the two bushes we procured at Ma- 
nilla. 

<* Amongst the number of mulberry trees now 
cultivated by the Chinese, for the rearing of silk 
worms, the Morus Multicaulis appears to be 
the most esteemed of all, not only for the facility 
with which it is propagated and grows, but still 
i more for the essentially nutritive property which 
I the leaves possess. We have been enabled to 
verify this important fact during the five years 
which we passed in Senegal. 

" Besides the advantages which we have al- 
ii ready named, we may still add, that these trees 
5: are admirably calculated for forming regular 
I plantations. They do not naturally grow tall, or 
j form any trunk properly so called; they can be 

3* 



18 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

placed very near each other without any injuri- 
ous effect, and, by heading down the stalks an- 
nually, near the ground, a rich vegetation is 
produced, with a complete development of 
vigorous branches and leaves. And, finally, it 
is easy to multiply them by thousands from the 
roots in the course of the first year, and to form 
vast and regular plantations of them the second. 
A few years, then, are sufficient to obtain con- 
siderable fields of them in full vigor, and to 
support an immense quantity of silk worms 
with the greatest facility, as they are repro- 
duced in a manner almost indefinite. Regular 
plantations of it can be formed without diffi- 
culty by planting the scions at a distance of 
six or eight feet from each other, a space suf- 
ficient for the extension of the branches, to 
facilitate the culture and for collecting the 
leaves; this last operation is so much facilitated 
by the flexibility of the stalks, that a child is 
sufficient for gathering leaves to feed a large 
establishment of silk worms. 

"This species will be readily acclimated 
in Europe; because it originated in an analo- 
gous region as to climate, to that which we in- 
habit. It appears not to suffer from the ex- 
cessive cold of the northern, nor the intense 
heat of the intertropical regions; for the plants 
deposited in the gardens of the government at 
Cayenne, acquired in the space of eight months 
a truly remarkable development, and at the 
time of our departure from that colony, in June, 
1821, they were clothed with leaves of an ex- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 19 

traordinary size. Those, also, which we culti- 
vated at Senegal, although situated under a dry 
and scorching sky, and planted in an arid soil, 
afford an appearance sufficiently satisfactory, 
but they had acquired less development in all 
respects than those which had vegetated under 
the damp climate of Guiana. It appears ex- 
pedient then, that plantations of this mulberry 
should be made upon a humid rather than a dry 
soil, to obtain in all respects, a satisfactory re- 
sult. 

"Besides, this mulberry stands the most 
rigorous winters. We saw on our arrival at 
Havre, in July last, in the field of Mr. A. 
Eyries, plants, which had withstood in the open 
ground, the winter of 1828, and which appear- 
ed vigorous and beautiful/' 

Thus much M. Perottet. Let us now hear 
the testimony of Mr. Poiteau, on the same tree, 
in the Annales $ horticulture, 1830. 

"By the information which we receive from 
all quarters, it appears that this mulberry is 
destined to replace the common white mulberry 
every where for feeding silk worms; its pro- 
perty of continuing low and bushy, so that the 
leaves can always be gathered without a ladder; 
and the large size, abundance, and tenderness 
of the leaves, cannot fail to give it a decided 
preference. It has been sufficiently ascertained, 
that they are eaten with avidity by the silk 
worms, and that the silk which they form is of 
the first quality. This "mulberry has not suffer- 



20 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

ed in the least, from the rigors of the last severe 
winter. 

"The zealous traveller, who has given to 
France, America, and Africa this precious plant, 
has acquired a just claim to public gratitude, 
and it is not only easy, but proper, to give him 
at this time a proof of ic, by affixing his name 
to the tree which has given him celebrity, and 
which will contribute so much to the prosperity 
of French industry. ?? 

Dandolo, or Moretti Mulberry. — This is a 
new and most valuable species of mulberry 
tree. It was first discovered by M. Moretti, 
Professor in the University of Pavia, and from 
a single scion he had, in 1826, multiplied them 
to one hundred and twenty thousand. The 
tree is presumed to be strong. The fruit which 
is at first purple, becomes at maturity, perfectly 
black. The leaf is oval, sharp pointed, entire, 
cordate at the base. It is thin, smooth on the 
under, and especially on the upper surface, 
which is of a beautiful and rather deep shining 
green ; it is not near so thick as that of the 
large white mulberry called in France " The 
Admirable," in consequence of its remarkable 
beauty and qualities, and is thinner than those 
of the Spanish mulberry. It is neither wrin- 
kled nor plaited. It is in general nearly 
eight inches wide, and ten inches long. This 
species will be most profitably cultivated in 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 21 

the form of a hedge, and from the great size 
of the leaves, they are gathered with the great- 
est facility. Its superior quality has been 
proved by the experiments of Messrs. Gera and 
Count Dandolo, who assert that they produce 
silk of a more beautiful gloss and of a finer 
quality. This last species of mulberry tree is, 
we believe, not much know T n in this country. 
We should like to see its introduction, but it is 
probable that the Morus Multicaulis will pre- 
vent it. 



CHAPTER II 



PECULIAR SUBSTANCE IN THE MULBERRY 
LEAF, AND THE ANALOGY OF ITS CON- 
STITUENT ELEMENTS WITH SILK. 

There is no doubt, some peculiar substance 
in . the mulberry leaf, which is not to be found 
in any other vegetable production. Experience 
has shown that the leaves of all the different 
kinds of mulberry which nourish the silk worm, 
have a granulous surface covered with a great 
number of minute tubercles resembling glands, 
which seem to contain the odour which the leaves 
exhale. This observation very early formed the 
subject of some examinations by several chem- 
ists, and they have been enabled to ascertain the 
existence of a matter altogether peculiar to the 
leaves of the mulberry, having no relation to the 
general principles of other vegetable produc- 
tions. 

Thus, then, if merely by the substance of 
this neutral matter, the leaves of the mulberry 
are distinguished from all other vegetables, if 
it be a fact that the silk worm feeds exclu- 
sively on these leaves, and that no other food 
enables it to make cocoons of good quality, there 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 23 

seems, then, reason to believe that silk is only 
a metamorphosis of the matter in question. 

In our last voyage to France, in the summer 
of 1837, a friend of ours communicated to us 
the observations on the species of mulberry, re- 
cently discovered by Professor Bafrau Delille of 
Montpellier, which he calls Morus Nervosa. 
It is said, in fact, that the transparent edges are 
formed by the extravasated gummy and resinous 
matter of which the silk is constituted, and that 
the worm fed with this sort of leaf gives a silk 
of finer quality and greater quantity. No doubt 
that an immense service could be rendered to 
the culture of silk, if it could be ascertained by 
an exact and thorough analysis, what is its actual 
composition. Unfortunately, this precise know- 
ledge is yet wanting. Messrs. Berthollet, Four- 
croy and Chaptal, have declared that silk has 
much analogy with the tissue of horn, and that 
by distillation they have obtained from it car- 
bonate of ammonia, and a large portion of oil. 
Hoard, in his excellent memoir addressed on the 
subject, to the National Institute of France, 
(see vol. 22, Decreusage des soies — ungumm- 
ing silk,) gives an analysis conformable to the 
observations of the three celebrated chemists 
above named. He demonstrates that the yellow 
silk contains of gum, from twenty- four to twen- 
ty-five per cent.; of coloring matter, which is 



24 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

a resinous substance, nearly solid at twelve de- 
grees of the centigrade thermometer, and en- 
tirely liquid at thirty degrees, its proportion is 
fifty-five to sixty per cent.; of wax, which melts 
at between seventy-five and eighty degrees, it 
is insoluble in water, and dissolved easily in the 
alkali or in soap; this part is no doubt what 
forms the exterior brilliancy of the silk; this 
matter is found in the yellow as well as the 
white, and forms from 1.200 to 1.250 of their 
weight; and a volatile oil having a strong and 
disagreeable odour, and which, by itself, resem- 
bles the essential oil of anise, or of any other 
vegetable matter. 

By these characteristics, we may conclude 
that silk is of an intermediate nature, between 
vegetable and animal, which will correspond 
with the qualities discovered by the above 
chemists. 

Another proof that the quality of the leaf has 
an important influence on the quality of the silk, 
is found in the observations lately made on the 
leaf of the Morus Multicaulis. Any one can 
satisfy himself that these leaves are more abun- 
dantly and entirely covered with those little 
glands than any other quality of mulberry, and 
consequently they contain a larger quantity of 
that nutritive substance spoken of. 

After having treated of the different species 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 25 

of mulberry bearing leaves, proper as food for 
the silk worm, we will treat of the culture of 
that plant. Here we must acquaint the reader 
that a great part of the method which follows 
for raising mulberry trees is drawn from some 
of the best authors who have written on that 
subject, for the climate of Europe, to which 
every thing found in the writers of this country, 
which seemed useful, has been added, and some 
things which were deduced from our own expe- 
rience; nor have we omitted giving hints of such 
improvements as, though we have not had time 
and opportunity to try them all, seem to us rea- 
sonable, and will, perhaps, upon experiment, 
be found useful. 



CHAPTER III. 



OF THE CULTIVATION OF MULBERRY TREES. 

This Chapter embraces the following heads :— 

1st. The manner of gathering and preserving the seed. 

2d. The soil proper for the raising and plantation of 
Mulberry trees. 

3d. The various modes of propagating the Mulberry- 
trees. 

4th. The planting out of the young Mulberry trees. 

5th. The grafting and budding Mulberry trees. 

6th. The culture, pruning, and management of the trees. 

7th. The diseases of the Mulberry trees. 



Our principal objects in adopting the above 
distribution and arrangement has been to show, 
first, the manner of obtaining the greatest possi- 
ble quantity of leaves during the proper season 
for raising silk worms; second, of securing the 
vigor and the health of that insect, on which 
depends the richness of the crop; both tasks to 
be accomplished with the least expenditure of 
time and money. 

We have adopted the above plan as the most 
eligible for condensing the directions which ap- 
pertain to this part of our subject, being con- 
vinced that one part of them only is necessary 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 27 

and unchangeable in any climate or latitude 
where the plant can grow. But the task must 
ultimately be left to the discernment of the 
agriculturist himself to judge, what circumstan- 
ces and practical means are necessary, by the 
nature of their own soil, in the order of seasons, 
and w T ith their adopted modes of tillage. There- 
fore we could not select a better model than the 
method of the Count de Verry, in his treatise 
on the mulberry, and that of the celebrated 
Doctor Antoine Pitaro on the same subject. 
We have borrowed at least, those precepts, 
which we thought must be strictly observed. 
On the other hand, not mistrusting our own 
knowledge and experience, acquired in one of 
the richest silk districts in France, we have 
attended to such selections and comments as 
we believe to be interesting, and may prove 
useful. 

1st. Of the manner of gathering and preserv- 
ing the Seed. 
The mulberries whose seed you intend to 
keep, should be gathered perfectly ripe, this 
you may know by their beginning to fall from 
the trees, by their softness, and, if you examine 
nicely, by the kernel being completely ripened 
in the small shell which encloses it. You should 
not choose the fruit of those trees which have 
been stripped of their leaves that year, or even 



28 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

the year before, if you can avoid it; the 
berries of the white mulberry which incline 
most to a dark color are the best. It is a good 
method to shake the tree moderately every day 
from the time that the fruit begins to ripen, 
for mulberries do not all ripen together. 

These mulberries should be laid thin on a 
clean table, in some airy place, for four or iive 
days, in order that they may attain their full 
ripeness, and should be removed and stirred 
every day for fear of heating or rotting, espe- 
cially if they lie thick upon one another ; after 
this let them be soaked in water until they can be 
easily bruised with your hand, and thus dissolve 
and separate the grain from the pulp ; separate 
the seeds afterwards by washing the mixture 
with several waters ; stir it briskly, the seed 
will sink, in three or four hours, to the bottom, 
and the pulp swimming at the top, may be 
poured oif with the water. The seed should 
then be taken out, spread on cloths, and dried 
in the shade or in some airy place, stirring 
it often for fear of the heat injuring it. When 
perfectly dry it should be put into a tight ves- 
sel and kept in a dry place. 

This and other processes in relation to a 
provision of seed, should never be neglected by 
good culturists, to guard against the chance 
of employing old or poor seeds : which danger 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 29 

is obvious, unless they can trust to horticul- 
turists and gardeners who follow that business 
with diligence and reputation. 

In the more temperate climates of Europe, 
it has been found necessary to select good trees, 
well manured, and hardy, in order to have 
sound and well-ripened seed ; and in any cli- 
mate, it would be useful to have a few trees of 
the best growth peculiarly set apart for seed. 
But, if, for want of better, you are obliged to 
make use of the seed from trees whose leaves 
have been pulled for the worms, let it be from 
those trees which were last used, viz : when 
the worms are in their last age, at that time 
they have their fruit pretty well grown before 
having been stripped, for the mulberries do 
not fill when the leaves are pulled too early. 
If the berries are ripe on any tree whose leaves 
you have occasion for, it will be convenient to 
shake the tree moderately every time before 
you pull the leaves; thus you will both save the 
fruit for the seed, and prevent it from mixing 
with the food of the silk worms ; and on this last 
account you should preserve for seed those 
trees which are so greatly loaded with fruit as 
to have but few leaves, since it would be almost 
lost time to pull the leaves; and they would be 
so mixed with the mulberries as to occasion a 
great deal of litter among the worms; and if 



30 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

they were so ripe as to shed their juice on the 
leaves, it would make them unwholesome food. 

2d Of the Soil proper for raising Mulberry 

trees. 
The ground for raising mulberry trees either 
from seed, layers, or cuttings, should be a 
rich, loose soil, mixed with much mould, and 
inclining to sandy, in order that the tender new 
formed roots may be the better enabled to ex- 
tend in it. A small depth of soil will be suf- 
ficient for these, especially those raised from 
seed, but it ought rather to have gravel under 
it than any sort of stiff clay, which might pre- 
serve humidity, and chill the young plants. 

Though a small depth of soil is sufficient for 
raising trees which are to be transplanted, yet, 
when they are raised where they are to stand, (as 
will be shown under the head of raising mulber- 
ry hedges,) or when they are transplanted where 
they are to remain, a deep soil is best, because 
mulberry trees shoot downward, with very long 
tap-roots ; it is true, indeed, that when they 
have taken root they will live, and throw T out 
abundance of leaves, even in a bad soil, but then 
those leaves are not so good to feed the worms, 
especially, when the trees are planted in low 
watery grounds, they then afford but bad leaves, 
though they may have a greater quantity; for, 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 31 

as they abound too much with moisture, their 
leaves approach to the nature of those which 
grow on the suckers of the mulberry trees, and 
endanger the silk worms which feed on them, 
especially if they had been used to better- 
leaves before. 



3d. Of the various modes of propagating the 

Mulberry trees. 
There are three principal methods of raising 
mulberry trees: 1st, by sowing the seed of the 
berry; 2d, by layers depending upon the 
mother trees, till they have taken root; 3d, by 
branches separated from the mother tree, and 
therefore called cuttings. We shall begin with 
the method of raising them from seed, as it is 
both the surest and most effectual way to pro- 
cure great numbers ; and numbers of small trees 
will answer the end of a few large ones. 

1st. To raise Mulberry trees from the seed; 
choose some part of an inclosed garden which 
has a good exposure to the sun, and is protected 
from the north wind; the ground should be 
ploughed the preceding fall, and again plough- 
ed two or three times in the spring and made 
light and friable, two or three dressings of dung, 
not too much decomposed, and well ploughed in, 



32 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

would be of essential service ; then lay out the 
ground in beds, a little raised above the surface 
of the earth, of what length you may think 
proper, but not above four feet broad, that they 
may be conveniently weeded. 

The best time for sowing the seed is in Feb- 
ruary, March, April, May, even in June, for 
it depends upon the climate. The sooner it is 
done in spring, when frosts of any continuance 
are no longer to be feared, it will be so much 
the better, as the plants by coming up early, 
will have time to get strength, and be the bet- 
ter able to bear the ensuing winter. As the 
plants require, according to the difference of 
climate, twelve to fifteen days, with sound seed 
and good weather before they begin to rise, we 
think it is a good rule to sow the seed about 
twelve or fifteen days before the time the mul- 
berry bud begins to open, (which may be a sort 
of general direction for any climate,) although 
no alarm need be felt if it should be later, as 
was the case in France, in 1825, when three 
weeks elapsed before the plants appeared. 

Take, therefore, the seed which you have 
kept, and if it is too dry, or if the season 
is too warm, steep it for one night in water, 
in order to induce the germination, then place 
two seeds at most in each drill made in the beds 
prepared as above, one inch and a half deep in 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 33 

a heavy soil, and two inches deep in a light 
one, and five or six inches asunder, and cover- 
ed with earth ; should the weather be dry du- 
ring, or shortly after the sowing, the beds 
should be watered immediately after the seed 
has been sown, and at least once every two days 
in dry weather, particularly towards the time 
when you expect the seed to spring up. 

While the earth appears moist you need not 
water them, since it is very apt to thicken 
the surface of the ground, and make a crust 
gather on it, which prevents the springing of 
the young plants, and therefore when you water 
them, it should be with a watering- pan whose 
rose has very fine holes, or else you should have 
two or three light bundles of osier, straw, or 
rushes, which you should lay upon the several 
parts of the beds as you water them. If any 
frost happens, or the weather be very hot when 
you sow the seed, it is proper to cover the 
beds with some straw for faur or five days ; this 
will protect it from either cold or drought, ac- 
cording a^ the season is, and also, from being 
scratched up, and picked by birds; above all, 
it is requisite, often and with the greatest care 
and gentleness, to stir up the earth, clearing 
it from all weeds, which would impede the 
growth of the young trees. For this and other 
reasons, we would advise to make the drills run 



34 SILK CULTCKIST'S MANUAL. 

across the bed, and not lengthways, beeanse the. 
weeds ean be more easily seen and destroyed. 
If the seed has been preserved with some of 
the pulp about it, you may sow it in a drill in 
the Following manner: first steep it in water | 
till it becomes a Soft pulp, then make drills 
aeross your beds as before directed, only some- 
what deeper; then, having some small ropes of) 
hay, about as thick as bulrush, ti\ them with 
two pegs directly over each drill; take now the 
moist pulp, and rub it along the rope, so that 
the seed may stick here and there upon it, then 
thrust the pegs down, so that the rope may lie 
in the bottom of the drill, and cover it with 
earth, after which, you may draw out the pegs. 
This* although a very easy method, is not so 
good as that above described, because if the 
seeds are too close, they will not germinate well, 
or oblige you to pull up some of the trees if 
they rise too thick. You may also sow the 
seed at its maturity, well cleaned, free from 
any animal or vegetable substance, and mixed 
with so much fine sand as may serve to separate 
the grains; thus you will gain almost a year in 
the growth of the trees; but, as this is done in 
the summer, the beds should be duly watered, 
and the plants, when winter comes on, should 
be protected against frost with straw or some 
other covering, which should not lie too close 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 35 

for fear of suffocating them, and in mild weather 
should be taken off; dry leaves are best for 
such purpose. 

If the nursery ground has been well attended 
to, during the first year, the little mulberry 
trees may be taken up the next spring, to be 
re-planted either in another nursery, in order 
to become large trees, or in the field, to make 
hedges of low stature. But if it is preferred to 
leave them longer than the spring, in order 
that they may gain greater strength, it is useful 
to cut those stems close off to the ground, by the 
means of such a sharp and well-edged nipper, 
as will not shake nor disturb the roots. The new 
growth will acquire additional vigor from this 
operation, and there will be obtained the second 
year, a mulberry tree four or five feet high, 
and sometimes even more. 

2d. By Layers. — Though the mode of rais- 
ing mulberry trees from seed, is the most advan- 
tageous, yet, where large plantations are to be 
suddenly raised, all other methods may be at the 
same time used. Layers may be made from low 
trees, and from shoots, which are sometimes pro- 
duced plentifully from the roots; but the me- 
,j| thod of making layers being generally known, 
needs not be particularly insisted on; the branch- 
es now are bent and pinned down in the earth, 



36 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

with crotchets of wood, leaving only their ex- 
tremities above ground., and in this situation 
they subsist on the mother tree, until the parts 
which are under the earth have formed roots 
sufficient to maintain themselves, and then they 
are to be separated from the trees and planted 
out. 

These layers are more certain of growth than 
cuttings, and do not require such watering 
while they depend on the old tree; but then, 
this dependance makes them lazy in putting 
forth roots, with which they often appear but 
moderately furnished, when you come to sepa- 
rate them from the old tree; therefore some 
agriculturists recommend to twist a piece of 
brass wire about the parts laid under ground. 
The theory upon which they built their im- 
provement, is, that as the branches of trees are 
produced generally at acute angles from the 
stem, and tend upwards, so that the roots are 
produced at acute angles, but in an opposite di- 
rection, downward. The ligature, therefore, 
checks the motion of the sap, and turns it into 
that direction which is proper to produce roots, 
and experience seems to have convinced them 
of the truth of this theory. We should think 
that a ligature of lead or of cord, may be found 
fitter for that purpose than brass wire, as they 
will give way to the growth of the branch, 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANtJAL. 37 

and not cut through the bark, as the other ap- 
pears to us apt to do. The spring is the 
most suitable season for making layers, and in 
two years they will be fit to transplant. It 
might, however, be of use, if, at the end of the 
first year, you should begin to wean them from 
the mother tree, by cutting them off four inches 
from it ; and putting tar upon the cut, this 
might force them to put forth roots for their 
subsistence. 

Shoots often spring from the ground, about 
the roots of trees, which have their heads torn 
by winds, or many of their principal branches 
lopped off, this may be promoted by digging 
and opening the ground about the roots of such 
i trees, but, though such suckers spring out of the 
1 ground, it is needful to their well rooting, that 
; they should be bent down, and have good mould 
; laid on their lower parts, in the same manner as 

I jhas been described for branches laid down. 

Besides the foregoing methods, we think 
>i proper to mention, that mulberry trees may be 
propagated from parts of the root taken up, the 
'» more length they have will be the better; these 

II may be laid horizontally, about two or three 
* inches under ground, in a loose fine mould, and 
^ placed in lines to produce hedges, as is general- 
ly jly done with cuttings; they may be planted 
"' 1 early in the spring, and will soon shoot forth 

I 5 



38 SILK CULTURISfS MANUAL. 

plants, which, being at first sufficiently rooted? 
are less liable to failure. The ground, how- 
ever, should be watered in dry weather, both 
before and after they have sprung, because the 
roots lie near the surface, being so placed in 
order that they may put forth plants above 
ground earlier. 

3d. By Cuttings.— -The next most easy and 
quick method of raising mulberry trees, is from 
cuttings; and in this method, though you can- 
not so readily raise the same number as from 
seed, yet you have the advantage in the quick- 
ness and strength of their growth. The mul- 
berry is more easily propagated from cuttings 
in moist and temperate climates, (particularly 
the species called Morus Multtcaulis, as we have 
already said,) than in those which are extremely 
hot and dry; for the branches which are sepa- 
rated from the mother trees having no roots tp 
subsist upon, require to be plentifully supplied, 
with moisture, in order to keep them alive 
till the roots are formed, and where the cIh 
mate denies this, the defect must be made up 
with watering. 

The soil chosen to receive the slips or cuttings [ 
of the mulberry tree, should be prepared much 
in the same way already described for the seed 
A two year old branch of a mulberry tree. 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 39 

which has wood of four or ^ve years at one end. 
must be selected, and the extremity of the old 
wood must be interred to the depth of about ten 
inches. The branches must be taken off from 
sound and well grown trees; and in order to fa- 
cilitate the shooting of the roots, two or three 
incisions must be made in the joints or knots of 
the old wood, from which the roots always put 
forth. 

The best time for planting cuttings, is as soon 
as the leaves have fallen in autumn, so that the 
parts which lie under ground may be prepared 
to put forth roots the spring following ; for, if 
they are planted in the spring, they will mostly 
fail for want of roots to supply the large quan- 
tity of nourishment which the leaves will soon 
require. The soil in which the cuttings are to 
be set, should have been dug, broken and 
weeded some weeks before ; and if there was 
a necessity, enriched with some good loam, 
dung, sand, or other manure, so as to make a 
fine loose mould proper for the young fibres of 
the roots-iro shoot into. In this make furrows 
of about one foot in depth and two in breadth, 
sloping from the edge to the bottom of the fur- 
row, and of the length which you design for your 
hedges; the distance between each furrow need 
not be above four feet, if you design future plan- 
tations, by taking away and transplanting one or 



40 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

more of the intermediate hedges ; but if no more 
hedges are planted than you intend to stand in 
the same places, then the trenches should be four 
or five yards distant. The ground between the 
trenches may be cultivated with any low vegeta- 
ble that will not overshade the young mulberry 
plants. The trenches should run from north to 
south, for reasons given in speaking of the form 
of a mulberry plantation. 

When you would plant the cuttings, first fill 
the trenches about one third with some of the 
fine mould taken out of them ; then begin to 
lay in the cuttings, by placing their main stem 
as flat as you can on the bottom of the trench, 
and turning up the small branches on each side 
so that their ends may stand above ground from 
three inches to a foot, as they can be convenient- 
ly bent and turned up ; for which purpose place 
that side of the main branch undermost which 
has less twigs growing out of it ; you may bend 
the small branches, and make them yield as 
much as you please, they will not grow the worse. 

The cuttings must then be covered with a 
well manured and friable earth, and the end of 
the branch which rises from the soil must be 
cut off at the third bud from the surface, If 
rains should not frequently occur after the 
plantation is finished, it would be necessary to 
water the plants often. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 41 

These cuttings, thus managed, will in the 
first summer put forth shoots of about eight or 
ten inches in length, more or less, according as 
they have thriven ; and at the same time they 
will strengthen themselves with roots, so that 
if they have made shoots, and preserved their 
leaves till fall you need not doubt of their growth. 
In the ensuing spring and summer, although 
they will then be more out of danger, yet you 
should continue to water them in very dry 
weather, and they will this year put out shoots, 
I often a yard in length, and furnish themselves 
i completely with roots, so as to be fit for trans- 
j planting in the fall. This method therefore, 
of raising mulberry trees, we take to be as ad- 
| vantageous and expeditious as any that can be 
pursued, and if cuttings thus managed fail to 
grow, at least in a temperate climate, it will be 
owing either to want of watering, weeding, or 
a good soil. 

We would recommend, before the cuttings 
are put into the ground, as above directed, to 
dip the part that is cut in tar or melted pitch; 
because when moisture insinuates itself where a 
branch is cut, especially in the mulberry tree, 
it generally makes the bark part from the wood 
and grow rotten ; besides, the tarring over of 
the cut will, as we think, prevent it from tak- 
ing in a large quantity of crude and improper 
5* 



42 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

juices, which will now be forced to strain 
through the bark, and prepare the shoot to put 
forth roots. 

The method here given for raising mulberry 
trees from cuttings, may perhaps be advanta- 
geously applied to the producing of nurseries 
from many other trees, as well as from the mul- 
berry. All that seems necessary for producing 
trees from cuttings, is, that the part which is 
under ground should, as soon as may be, acquire 
the nature of a root, so as to feed the branches. 
Wherefore the less any particular tree is apt to 
strike root from cuttings, the more of the branch 
must lie under ground to make up the defect, 
and the more should such other artifices be 
used as will make it put out roots ; for other- 
wise, though a branch may bud and keep alive 
during the beginning of the summer, yet when 
the leaves are expanded by the advance of the 
season, they require a greater supply of sap, 
and the branch will often, for want of due 
nourishment, decline by degrees, and at last 
die. 

4th. Of planting out young Mulberry trees. 

Mulberry trees raised from seed, or from 
parts of the roots laid in the ground, may be 
transplanted after having acquired the thick- 
ness of an inch and a half in diameter. Though 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 43 

some authors mention that mulberry trees may be 
transplanted in the spring, yet the surest season 
for doing it, is just after the leaves have fallen in 
the autumn; for the dry weather, which often hap- 
pens in spring, before the roots have settled and 
begin to draw nourishment, will much endanger 
and often kill the plants ; but, when planted in 
the fall, this is avoided, and there is then nothing 
to be feared^ except a severe frost soon after 
planting, but this may be prevented from doing 
any harm by laying some fresh litter, straw, or 
the like on the ground, over the roots. 

The pits for setting out should be prepared 
and always left open beforehand, in order to fer- 
tilize the soil by the airing or contact of the am- 
bient atmosphere, which, as is very properly 
supposed, has its share of influence upon the 
vegetative property of such layers or strata of 
earth as have thus been mellowed. It is in this 
view, also, that a judicious horticulturist will 
take care to set apart the upper and best vege- 
table earth, and lay it on the roots of the sapling. 

There^are two methods of planting out the 
young mulberry trees, or of forming plantations, 
viz: 1st, in hedges, or 2d, as standard trees. 

1st, The planting in hedges affords three im- 
portant objects: supplying food for silk worms; 
keeping the trees low, so that the leaves may 
be gathered from the ground by children ; and 



44 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

furnishing a good and almost never ending fence 
for gardens, meadows, &c. In transplanting 
young trees for hedges, they should not be 
pruned till the second year, or at least the 
third, the tops should be cut off and the side 
branches trained laterally with the hedge, by 
interweaving them. The white mulberry forms 
an excellent live fence, and, when once estab- 
lished, is probably the most permanent of any 
other. 

2d, As standard trees. This operation, as 
well as the one already spoken of, requires con- 
siderable diligence, both in taking up the trees, 
so as not to spoil or damage the stem, and also 
in re- planting them. It is necessary to cut care- 
fully, with a sharp and well- edged nipper, all 
the branches of the young tree close to the stem, 
without, in so doing, inflicting any serious 
wound upon the tree; all the injured roots must 
be cut off. The trenches to receive these trees 
vary from four to five feet in diameter, accord- 
ing as the soil is more or less strong. In stiff 
and argillaceous ground the trench ought to be 
larger. The depth should not exceed two feet, 
in order that the roots, not being too deeply 
buried, may feel the influence of the sun's rays 5 
horse dung, not too dry, and sheep dung make 
the best manure and may be put in the bottom 
of the holes, or some fresh mould. It would be 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 45 

desirable to ascertain the exposition that the 
plants had in the nursery, which may be easily 
discovered by the size and the number of 
its roots, which are generally more conside- 
rable on the south side of the tree, as well as 
by the size and the distance of the rings or cir- 
cles which form at the forks of the branches. 
Directed by these signs, one may give to the 
tree the same exposition which it had before its 
removal, by attentively turning to the south the 
largest roots and circles. 

It will be a good precaution to put a stake, 
firmly driven into the ground, by the side of 
each tree recently planted, and tying the tree 
to it. The wind will thus have less power to 
disturb the tree and draw the roots out of their 
proper position. Three or four dressings a year 
with a hoe, might be of essential benefit. Fresh- 
ness and strength are communicated to the tree 
and to its roots by this attentive tillage, and the 
benefit is so visible, that even an unpractised 
eye will at once distinguish the plantation of 
the industrious from that of the negligent pro- 
prietor. 

5th. Of grafting and ludding Mulberry trees. 

Bonafous observes that there is a difference 
of opinion in regard to this method, as some 
think it advisable to graft the young trees^ 



46 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

whilst others prefer to leave them in their natu- 
ral state. Count Dandolo appears to be of the 
latter opinion 5 let us hear him on this last point. 

" I have fed, though with difficulty, a num- 
ber of silk worms on the leaf of the wild mul- 
berry tree alone. This leaf is scarce, because 
even the hedge mulberry trees are grafted. 

"The cultivator, finding that the grafted 
mulberry yields more leaves, is always anxious 
to graft as soon as possible, which has prevent- 
ed my making the experiment on a large scale. 
I have however, ascertained the following facts. 

u 1. That 14| lbs. of wild mulberry leaves, 
weighed when just gathered, without sorting, 
will produce a pound and a half of cocoons, 
while it requires 20f lbs. of the leaves of the 
grafted mulberry to make the same quantity. 

u %. That 1\ lbs. of cocoons, proceeding from 
worms fed on the leaves of the wild mulber- 
ry gives about fourteen ounces of exceedingly . 
fine silk; whilst generally, the same weight of 
cocoons, managed exactly in a similar manner, 
but of which the worms have been fed with 
leaves of the grafted mulberry, yields only ele- 
ven or twelve ounces of silk. 

"3. That the silk worms fed on the wild 
leaves are always brisker and have better appe- 
tites." 

The celebrated Doctor Antoine Pitaro is of 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 47 

the same opinion on this subject. "The black or 
white mulberry transplanted from the nursery," 
says he, "is the true and natural mulberry, and 
it is for that reason that it is called wild mul- 
berry; yet it is in our opinion preferable to the 
grafted mulberry, because its leaf, compared to 
the grafted mulberry, yields, at equal weight, a 
greater portion of nutritious and resinous sub- 
stance, and less of the fibrous substance." 

It would appear from what we have stated, that 
we prefer the culture of the wild mulberry ; how- 
ever, before coming to a conclusion the agricultu- 
rist should weigh the following observations at- 
tentively. 

1. In the vast class of the wild mulberry 
plant, there are varieties of an indifferent qual- 
ity, which yield few leaves, those leaves much 
indented, and the branches thorny. 

2. Some give a great quantity of fine sound 
leaves, scarcely distinguishable from the graft- 
ed mulberry leaf. 

3. The wild mulberry tree with sound leaves 
and of ar good quality, may be grafted on the 
wild mulberry tree of the inferior sort, with 
indented leaves. 

4. As it is the nature of the wild mulberry 
to have a great quantity of small branches, and 
grow bushy, it should be well pruned and thin- 
ned, which will also strengthen the tree. 



48 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

5. The hedge rows of wild mulberry trees ! 
should all be grafted with the best sorts of the 
wild mulberry, and they should be planted in 
every spot where they are not likely to injure 
any other production. 

We may have enlarged too much on this sub- 
ject^ and we must conclude that before the cul- 
ture of the wild mulberry tree shall supersede 
the grafted tree, experiments must be made for 
many years, from which alone exact calculations 
and unerring practical comparisons can be de- 
duced 5 therefore we will proceed to give the 
best method of grafting mulberry trees. 

We are sorry to be in opposition with one of 
the most illustrious writers of Lombardy, the 
Count Verri, who recommends very highly the 
engrafting by the shoot as the surest and most 
advantageous mode. Experience has, however, 
proved that the branches proceeding from such 
a graft will never acquire much strength, and 
moreover, the smallest storm of north wind will 
suffice to break them. The engrafting by rings 
is better adapted to the tree, and gives to its 
branches more strength to support the force of 
the wind. Scions of the preceding year are 
the best adapted either to inoculate or to graft 
the trees, and the time most suitable is the 
month of May, on a dry and calm day, for rains 
and high winds are injurious. 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 49 

The branches from which the rings are to be 
taken should be cut from the tree in the first 
fortnight of April, when the sap has ascended 
to the limbs, to the very extremities of the 
branches. After having cut them off, it is the 
custom to bury them in the sand, a little moist- 
ened, for fifteen days, in order to render the 
bark more flexible and easier to be removed. 
The operation of inoculation is very easy, and 
may be learned in three hours' exercise, after 
seeing it done by an able inoculator. 

During the whole year in which the inocula- 
tion has been performed, care must be taken 
not to suffer any other shoots to grow than those 
which are inoculated, and which are intended 
to form the crown of the tree. In the spring 
of the following year the engrafted branches 
should be trimmed, leaving three eyes between 
the place of inoculation and the extremity. 
This operation surprisingly concentrates the 
strength of the tree, which, the same spring, 
puts forth very flourishing branches. 

Generally, only three branches are left, 
which form, with their shoots, a fine crown 
or top to the tree. It is always useful to cut 
off the branches that have taken an ill direc- 
tion or become thorny, or when they weaken 
the plant too much. This ought however, to 
be done only before the sap has recommenced 
6 



50 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

its circulation ; at the same time all the littlet 
branches or extremities should be lopped off! 
that have perished by the cold or any otherr 
accident. 

6th. Of the culture, pruning and management! 
of the trees. 
Few persons bestow much trouble on the 
mulberry trees designed for silk worms; and yet! 
it is certain, that the leaves will be more whole- 
some and the trees thrive better by culture. 

In some countries of Europe which produce 
silk, the grown up mulberry trees are left to 
themselves ; in others they are more or less 
pruned. Both these methods are more found- 
ed upon custom than upon sound principles of 
rural economy. Three things ought to be kept 
in view : 

1st. The quality and the quantity of the leaves. 
2d. The duration of the tree. 
3d. The facility and the certainty of the 
gathering of the leaves. 

Any method adopted, without regard to 
these primary conditions, is dangerous, or use- 
less. The clipping of the trees contributes 
undoubtedly to render the leaves more numer- 
ous, and larger ; but if practised without judg- 
ment and necessity, or done at an improper 
time, or imperfectly, the leaf not only becomes 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 51 

less nutritious, but diminishes in quantity ; 
it fills the tree with wounds and scars, and 
weakens it; much caution is therefore recom- 
mended in pruning, in the first year that the 
leaves are plucked ; and the pruning must be 
so executed, that by an equal distribution of 
the sap, there may be a perfect equilibrium in 
all parts of the tree. Consequently, ten days 
at least after the fall of the leaves, or after they 
have been pulled off, all the branches damaged 
in that operation, and all the dead ones, ought 
to be lopped off, as well as those the vegeta- 
tion of which seems too low ; and those which, 
on the contrary, are too luxuriant, ought to be 
restrained in that propensity, or turned up in 
a different direction, to diminish the sap ; the 
tree ought not to be left to grow to an excessive 
height, nor to spread too far ; the branches 
which obstruct the development of the head, 
or hang too much down, should be shortened : 
and lastly, those that have been thrust out of 
>l their natural direction, during the gathering of 
I the leaves, ought to be set right again; and 
i with regard to the rest, the good sense of every 
cultivator will direct him how to form trees the 
most beautiful as well as the most productive. 

In regard to the preservation of mulberry 
trees and mulberry hedges, much depends on 
the method of gathering their leaves. It should 



52 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL* 

be done with the greatest care, with the view of 
causing as little injury as possible to the plant, of 
preserving it in good condition and proper vigor, 
so as to satisfy the voracity of our precious in- 
sect. It is essential that all the leaves should 
be pulled off; for, if any remain on some 
branches, they attract the sap, whilst the naked 
branches are incompletely nourished. Begin 
by pulling the leaves of the hedges, if you have 
any, then proceed to the young trees, whereby 
the latter gain time to come into fresh leaf, and 
the sooner, in proportion as the leaves of the old- 
er trees are more fully grown, more nutritious, 
and more suitable to the worms in their progress 
and advanced ages. The stripping of the leaves 
should not be begun before the disappearance of 
the dew, and ought to be ended before the 
setting of the sun. The hand should move from 
below upwards, in order to avoid pulling oif the 
buds, and an inverted force and direction that 
might pull off the eyes and break and mutilate 
many parts. 

It is never proper to climb upon a tree which 
is not strong enough by age or by nature 5 
for the motion is more injurious than the ad- 
ditional weight ; the best way is to use the 
double wheelbarrow, or step ladder. 

The bags employed to contain the leaves 
should have a hoop at the mouth to keep them 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 53 

open, and be furnished with a hook, that they 
might be hung on the branches; when filled 
another should be at hand, and care taken to 
keep them sheltered from the sun. 

Mulberry leaves are frequently much soiled 
in summer with what is called honey-dew, a 
viscous matter. This is a phenomenon not yet 
accounted for ; it results from insects, from the 
plant or from the clouds. Sauvage, Bonafous, 
Count Verri, Dandolo, Pitaro, and other eminent 
agriculturists, have said much about it ; what- 
ever it may be, the honey-dew is poisonous to the 
silk worms, and leaves, thus stained, should be 
thrown away. Rusty or partly dried leaves 
have not this inconvenience, because the worms 
either refuse them or they eat only the healthy 
portion ; if wet by rain, they induce disease, 
and you have to dry them by spreading them 
in parcels on a clean linen cloth, in a dry and 
airy room, stir them often with a wooden fork, 
shake the cloth, and the leaves will soon dry ; 
dusty leaves must be also cleansed before feed- 
ing the worms. 

7th. Of the diseases of the mulberry trees. 

Every species of tree is liable to some pecu- 
liar malady ; and when the interest of the pro- 
prietor is awakened by the value of the object, 
he applies the means of cure already known, or 
6* 



54 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL, 

has recourse to some remedy of his own, which 
he thinks the nature of the case requires, It 
would be too long to relate here every thing 
which has been published on the diseases of 
mulberry trees, we will only expose those most 
fatal to them, and particularly one which has 
been observed epidemically ruinous to planta- 
tions. The following literal translation of a 
case and cure of that kind, by Count Verri, will 
at once indicate the nature, the danger, and the 
treatment; observing, however, at the same 
time, that the same* disease may originate from 
carious or gangrenous spots at the extremities of 
branches instead of being only confined to the 
root, as in the following instance. 

"A mulberry which I had planted and taken 
care of during twenty years, offered all at once, 
alarming symptoms; the leaves grew small, and 
the greater part of them withered ; others were 
yellow, and dropped off long before the autum- 
nal period. There not appearing any local de- 
fect, I ordered the ground to be opened, and 
the roots to be searched. I found that a few 
had been gnawed by moles, and others were dis- 
eased. I had them all taken off, I renewed the 
earth, mixed it with manure, and curtailed a 
little the sound ones. But this was not all, I had 
all the branches pruned off except the principal 
ones, which were shortened only, and I made, 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 55 

with a very sharp knife, several deep, longi- 
tudinal incisions, to the places from whence a 
thick fluid oozed out, taking care to detach all 
the black parts. This operation, by facilitating 
the flowing of that humor, saved the tree from 
gangrenous ulcers, which would have been sub- 
sequently formed. All this was done in the 
month of September, the next year the tree 
still kept in a hopeful condition, although very 
weak; but in the next it perfectly recovered 
its vigor and luxuriant vegetation. I had oc- 
casion to repeat the same method with several 
other trees, and always very successfully, al- 
though this last was done in the month of May. 
My neighbors, being advised by me, have ex- 
perienced the same success. It is unfortunate- 
ly but too true, that if, in a row of fine trees, 
one alone be attacked, the next one will soon 
follow, show the same disease, and die; in 
which case, having dug up the dead tree, it 
will be necessary to open a large and deep ditch 
between that and the next trees, (to intercept 
contagion^) and all the rest will be preserved." 
— Verri,pp. 81-2. 

The malady that attacks the trunk of the tree 
is soon perceived, and agriculturists have been 
often alarmed at its progress and its destructive 
effects. It is a sort of ulcer which breaks forth 
almost always in the middle of the trunk; rare* 



£6 SILK CULTURIST'8 MANUAL. 

iy on the north side, still more uncommonly on 
the east, but usually on the south, or the west 
side. When the moisture flowing from the ul- | 
cer increases sufficiently to reach, and actually 
attains the roots, the mulberry tree soon per- 
ishes. This disease is attributed to the setting 
of plants more than four years old ; for the stem 
becomes hard and dry in proportion to its age,, 
and, taken from its native soil, at a more ad- 
vanced age, is more affected by drought and 
heat, and thus losing part of its original moisture, 
receives the seed of future disease. This evil 
may be obviated by applying the knife, and 
taking out a circular piece of the bark, sufficient- 
ly distant from the diseased part, and cleaning 
the wood by scraping it where it is found neces- 
sary. A coat of bees wax and turpentine must 
immediately be spread over the incision, extend- 
ing it a little beyond the edge of the wound, 
and, in two growing seasons, the cut will be 
closed, and the tree will recover its vigor and 
hardy vegetation. 

Of the vermin which occasionally infest 
the mulberry trees, much might be said, but 
their enumeration would not be here of any use. 
Bonafous speaks of only two sorts, the Lamia 
Curculio, and the Lamia Lugubris^the, grubs of 
which settle themselves beneath the bark and 
the ligneous or woody substance, and which 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 57 

ought to be carefully removed or destroyed. 
Pitaro speaks of the Scarabceus Melolontha of 
Linnseus, or the Melolontha of Fabricius. These 
insects, it appears, live several years under the 
earth, and the roots of the trees are so carefully 
gnawed by them, that although you take all the 
precaution to destroy these larvae by all and 
every necessary means in your power, the mul- 
berry trees are so damaged that they cannot 
live any length of time, and must die. 

These attentions are of vital consequence; 
for a mulberry plantation contributes largely to 
the comforts of its proprietor, and when well 
managed, becomes to him a source of wealth. 
He will soon feel the all important difference 
between a healthy and vigorous tree, producing 
abundantly, and one that is sickly and yielding 
a poor crop. 



FART II. 



CHAPTER I 



OF THE REARING OF SILK WORMS. 
Without going into the natural history of cat- 
erpillars generally, amongst which is comprised 
the silk worm ; and as the rearing of silk worms 
must be in this country a source of industry 
to a class of people who more particularly need 
instruction on this subject, it has been thought 
proper to present at pnce, to that class, a con- 
densed view of that mode of raising silk worms, 
which would best secure the reward of their 
labor. 

The publications on this subject, in this coun- 
try, appear to be either too voluminous, and 
too full of details, for the most part of minor 
importance, or too much condensed to con- 
tain the principal directions necessary to be 
attended to. This by no means pretends to 
ba e perfect or complete work. To endea- 
vour to convey, in plain and perspicuous lan- 
guage, the practical knowledge which the au- 
thor has acquired by experience, so as to en- 
able the American farmers to undertake the 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 59 

rearing of silk worms, and the production of 
good saleable cocoons, with a reasonable hope of 
success, is his only aim. 

The way to be certain of having good eggs 
of your own breed, will be hereafter shown, 
but if you are only beginning to raise silk 
worms, and are obliged to buy your eggs, you 
must, in a great measure, depend on the hones- 
ty of the seller, especially if you send for them 
to a distant country ; the principal rule to be 
depended on in this case is, for the buyer to 
choose the small and bright seed, of a grey co- 
lour, more or less dark ; those that are white or 
yellow have been laid by the female without 
coupling with the male, at least have not been 
fecundated, and are of course good for nothing : 
and those that are brown, shrunken, and very 
flat are decayed. If you are near the place 
I where the eggs were bred, you can best dis- 
\ cover their size and goodness, before they are 
I taken from the materials on which they were 
laid by the moth. Besides the choice of good 
eggs, some regard is to be had to the climate in 
'which they were produced, so as to buy your 
eggs from a country which enjoys nearly the 
same degree of heat, or if any difference is to 
be made, they ought to be bought in a country 
a small degree colder than the one to which 
they are brought. 



60 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

Being provided with eggs, the next thing to 
be considered is the time of hatching them, and 
the best and surest rule for this is, to do it when 
you observe that the mulberry buds begin to 
open and spread into small leaves: and it will 
not be sufficient to observe this in one or two 
trees, which may chance to stand in a warm and 
sheltered situation, but it must appear through 
the bulk of all your trees, otherwise, though you 
may have a great number of them, you may be 
distressed for want of food. 

Having fixed upon your time of hatching, ob- 
serve that all the directions which follow, con- 
cerning the manner of doing it should be atten- 
tively pursued; experience has demonstrated 
that the harvest of cocoons depends entirely 
upon well a managed hatching. 



CHAPTER II 



METHOD OF HATCHING THE SILK WORM. 

The nature of silk worm's eggs is such, 
that, like those of other insects, they will, as 
the weather advances in warmth, hatch of them- 
selves; but as, in this manner, there would be 
a great distance of time between those that hatch 
first, and those that hatch last, insomuch that, 
as some would every minute be hatching, it 
would be impossible to attend to collect them 
together, or afterwards to feed them, on account 
of their being sick at different times; therefore 
it is necessary to make use of a heat properly 
graduated, by means of stoves, in order that 
numbers may be hatched at one time, and that 
your whole quantity of eggs may come out at 
least in two or three days. You will keep sepa- 
rate the worms of each days' hatching, and if 
you can, you will collect them two or three 
times a day, and feed them by themselves ; this 
is a thing so absolutely necessary, that, without 
it, there would be no possibility of feeding any 
quantity of silk worms to advantage, as will be 
shown hereafter. 

7 



62 SILK eULTURISTS MANUAL. 

Various methods of making the eggs hatch, 
may be used according to the convenience of the 
breeders; but whatever method is used should 
aim principally at this end, viz : of making them 
hatch, as nearly as may be, together, on account 
of their moulting or casting off skin, and, as the 
only thing that will most effectually do this, is 
an equal degree of warmth, as near as can be 
attained, and constantly applied till they are 
hatched, a very simple and easy process to ob- 
tain such result, will be given. 

The eggs are spread upon white paper, placed 
on a clean table, separating each ounce of eggs, 
and leaving a space of six or eight inches all 
round each parcel, for the reception of small 
leaves of the mulberry, which the silk worm ea- 
gerly seizes on as soon as it is hatched. This table, 
of a size proportioned to the quantity of eggs in- 
tended to be spread upon it, ought to be placed in 
a room seven or eight feet square, and seven or 
eight in height, closely wainscotted or plastered 
on all sides, having a glazed window on the east 
side, with a fire place, or (still better,) a stove, 
for the maintenance of a proper temperature. 
Three tiers of shelves, two feet long and eigh- 
teen inches wide, with a distance of two feet 
between the lower and the middle, and between 
the middle and upper tiers, must be fixed along 
the extent of two of the side walls. A fire must 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 63 

be made in the little room early in the morning, 
at noon, and at ten in the evening, for three 
days before the eggs be placed in it, in order 
that the air and the walls should be made dry 
and warm. The temperature of the air, during 
the first twenty-four hours after spreading the 
eggs, must be maintained at from 77 to 78° of 
Fahrenheit, and each succeeding day the heat 
must be increased two degrees, till it shall arrive 
on the seventh day, at 92 or 93 degrees, and 
never higher, when the worms will probably 
begin to make their appearance. This room 
should be furnished with two large dishes in 
which water may be poured, so as to offer a sur- 
face of four inches in diameter, at least; the 
moisture, which rises very slowly, moderates 
the dryness which might occur in the stove 
room. Very dry air is not favorable to the de- 
velopment of silk worms. Exposed to this 
graduated heat, the shell of the eggs on the sixth 
day appears much whiter. It is then that we 
must be unremitting in our care, turning the 
eggs every four or five hours, and preserving 
an equal temperature. Those which put forth 
before the seventh, or after the tenth day, are 
delicate and sickly, they should be set aside, 
and raised by themselves. The heat therefore, 
ought to be graduated with due reference to 
the climate of the region where the worms are 
bred, and the temperature in which they have 



64 SILK CULTURIsrs MANUAL. 

been preserved during the winter. This is so 
true, and so worthy of remark, that if, in the 
winter the eggs have been kept in an atmos- 
phere of 55 or 59°, or heaped together, they 
come forth without the aid of the stove, sponta- 
neously, when the room is but slightly warmed, 
and before the mulberry tree has given any sign 
of vegetation. This circumstance is, therefore, 
of essential consequence, and should be noted 
to prevent its occurrence ; to preserve the eggs 
in an even and gentle temperature, is there- 
fore recommended. 

The following are the signs of the speedy vi- 
vification of the silk worms : 

The dull brownish slate color of the eggs 
grows bluish, then purplish, and then gray, with 
a cast of yellow, and finally of a dingy white, then 
the worm is already formed, and with a glass 
may be seen within the shell. To collect the 
worms, small twigs of mulberry, with a few 
leaves on them should be laid on the paper, and 
they should be increased as fast as the worms 
come out upon them. Care must be taken not 
to injure the worms with the small twigs by 
pressing too much upon them. 

The worms which may have been managed 
according to the method here stated, will always 
be healthy and strong. They will neither be 
red nor black, but of a dark hazel or chesnut co- 
lor, which is the proper color they should have. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 65 

It is impossible to express the practical advan- 
tage of this method, thus ensuring the constant 
production of well constituted animals. 

The appearance of the newly hatched worm 
is that of a woolly substance, of a dark chesnut 
hue, in which is perceptible a general stirring 
of minute animals, raising up their heads and 
presenting a black and shining speck or head. 
Their bodies are covered with regular lines of 
hair, or down, of various lengths. Their brown 
color is caused by this hair, the skin being 
whitish, which appears as they grow larger and 
the hair thinner. The whiteness of the skin is 
perceptible the moment the worm casts its shell 
and stretches its head. When seen through a 
glass, it appears to have a white collar; the tail 
is also bristled with hair. 

When carefully following the precepts here 
given, there will invariably result the certainty 
of obtaining silk worms, healthy and strongly 
constituted. 

More particular attention has been bestowed 
on this circumstance of hatching the eggs, as it 
is one of the most necessary points in rearing 
silk worms, yet, notwithstanding the many and 
minute things which are set down, the prac- 
tice will be found sufficiently easy. The man- 
agement of the worms when they begin to hatch, 
will next be considered. 
7# 



CHAPTER III 



OF THE REARING OF SILK WORMS DURING 
THEIR FIRST AGES. 

The worms, as they hatch, seek and cling to 
the mulberry leaves; they should be removed 
as soon as possible, and laid, with the twigs on 
which they are feeding, on wicker hurdles, 
covered with paper. In laying the twigs on 
the paper, care must be had to allow space 
enough for mulberry leaves to be put over the 
twigs, and between them, that the insects may 
have room to stretch and properly distribute 
themselves. It should be noted here, that the 
silk worms produced from one ounce of eggs, 
thus disposed, should occupy a space of nine 
and a half square feet, taking care to lay the 
worms in small squares of ten inches, which 
will exactly allow them the space they need 
until after their first moulting, but those who 
have the means of extending these allotted 
spaces may do so, because it is certain that the 
more room silk worms are allowed, the better 
they eat, digest, breathe and rest. 

The first day after coming forth, and the dis- 
tribution of the silk worms proceeding from 
one ounce of eggs, they should be given, in four 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 67 

meals, thirteen ounces of single, tender young 
leaves, chopped very small ; dividing the time, 
so as to allow six hours between each meal, giv- 
ing the smallest quantity for the first feeding, 
and gradually increasing that of each meal. Be 
careful that the leaves be always perfectly dry 
before you give them to the worms, which 
may be easily obtained by putting them under 
cover on a brick pavement, or gravelled floor, 
turning them over and placing them further 
where it is not damp, (for they always leave a 
dampness where they lie,) three or four times a 
day ; you may thus keep leaves three or four 
days, provided there is no draught of air. 
Leaves cleansed and chopped very small are 
more suitable at this age. In this state they 
bite the leaf quickly, and it is consumed before 
it can be withered. 

If care be not taken to chop the leaves small, 
and to give the young worms space when they 
are little, a great number must perish, as they 
will contract diseases, and lose their equality. 
The worm that cannot eat, dwindles, becomes 
extenuated, weak, sickly, and perishes under 
the leaf. This object, which appears trifling 
in itself, is however, of great importance, and 
deserves unceasing attention. 

In feeding the worms regularly four times a 
day, you must manage so as never to give the 



68 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

whole quantity at once, as we stated above, be- 
cause after the distribution of each meal, it is 
better to observe if some food should not be ad- 
ded in different spots. As they advance in this 
early age of their existence, if they consume 
their food readily and appear eager, it is well 
to give them a little food at intermediate times. 

Thus, by much care, and all these appropri- 
ate and indispensable attentions, we lead this 
profitable little animal, at the end of five days, 
exclusive of the two days employed in its com- 
ing forth, and being removed and properly dis- 
tributed, to its first dormant state, which results 
in the change of its skin. The signs by which 
it is known that worms are sick and about to 
change their skins, are theses they hold their 
heads up, are motionless, and appear to sleep ; 
this should be noticed. 

As it is from this age that depends the 
harvest of cocoons, it is then useful to wait the 
revivification of the greatest number of the silk 
worms before they are fed, particularly as these 
insects, when they cast their skins, need free 
air and gentle heat more than food. 

In this first stage, the silk worms proceeding 
from one ounce of eggs, have consumed six 
pounds of picked leaves, well sorted and chop- 
ped very small, viz : 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 69 



First day, 


lbs. ounces. 
13 


Second day, 


1 8 


Third day, 


3 


Fourth day, 


8 


Fifth day, 


4 



In this first age the temperature of the room 
should be kept at 75° and the air be renewed 
only by opening the door ; nothing further is 
necessary for the thriving of the worms, and 
their healthy continuance. 

Second age of the silk worm. 

Fourteen feet eight inches square of table or 
wicker hurdles are needed for the accommoda- 
tion of the worms, proceeding from one ounce 
of eggs, until the accomplishment of their se- 
cond casting or moulting. 

These tables or wicker hurdles, as before men- 
tioned, should always be covered with strong 
paper. The temperature in this age should be 
about 735. You must take care not to lift them 
from their litter until they are nearly all re- 
vived. There is no harm in waiting till they 
are all well awake and stirring, even should it be 
for twenty or thirty hours from the time when 
the few first began to revive. 

When a great number of worms issue from 
the sheets of paper where they were placed, it 



70 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

is a sign that they should be removed from 
their litter, and removing them a little sooner, 
the others will soon revive also. There are 
always good opportunities of taking them up 
by means of twigs, to which they attach them- 
selves. If the worms are laid on a newspaper, it 
is easy to take out the newspaper, lay it on a 
table, and transport the worms, which general- 
ly adhere to the leaves and branches, to ano- 
ther newspaper, which is put on the shelf after 
sweeping it. The litter on the former may then 
be thrown away. Instead of forming small 
squares, as was done for disposing of the newly 
hatched worms, long strips should be laid down 
the middle of the wicker hurdles, so prepared, 
that by widening them on each side when arri- 
ved at the consummation of the second age, the 
whole space of fourteen feet eight inches of the 
hurdle should be entirely covered by the silk 
worms. These means for removing the silk 
worms are the best, and suited to all the differ- 
ent ages, and the worms thus removed upon 
clean shelves with fresh boughs, get strong 
and revived. 

An hour or two after the worms have been 
placed upon hurdles, they should be given a meal 
of one pound of leaves chopped small. In the re- 
mainder of this day you should give them 2 lb. 
8 oz. of chopped leaves, in two meals, with an 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 71 

interval of six hours between each, or according 
to the hours of the day which remain. The 
second day they will require about 8 lb. of 
chopped leaves, in four meals, with intervals 
of six hours, the two first meals less plentiful 
than the remaining. It is very necessary gra- 
dually to widen on both sides the strips in 
which the worms are distributed, that at the 
close of this day two-thirds of the allotted space 
should be covered. 

The body of the worm now acquires a clear 
hue; the head enlarges and becomes whiter. 
Should some places be thinly covered with 
worms, by placing small boughs where the 
worms lie thick, they will fasten on them, and 
may then be removed to fill up the places which 
were not sufficiently covered: the equality of 
the worms being very desirable, it should be 
carefully attended to, and those means above 
stated practiced through all the moul tings, and 
whenever circumstances seem to require them. 
The third day of this age they will require 
8 lb. and 11 oz. of chopped leaves well picked, 
observing that the two first meals should be 
the largest. Now the leaves should be distri- 
buted in proportion as they are wanted, dis- 
tributing them with attention, because the vo- 
racity of the silk worm abates towards evening ; 
and many worms show, by raising up their 



72 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

heads, and not eating, that they are approach- 
ing the period of torpor, and some already are 
become torpid. 

The strips should now be widened, so that at 
least four-fifths of the hurdle should be covered. 

The fourth day they will require only 2 lb. 
5 oz. of picked leaves distributed in the same 
manner as before, as may be wanted, lightly 
and carefully scattered over the worms. 

This day the silk worms sink into torpor, so 
that the next day they will have cast their skins, 
and will be roused, and thus will the second 
age be accomplished. 

The color of the worm is become of a light 
grey, the hair is hardly to be perceived by the 
naked eye, and is become shorter; the muzzle, 
which in the first age was very black, hard, 
and scaly, becomes immediately, upon moulting, 
white and soft, but afterwards again grows 
black, shining, and shelly as before, the length 
of its body is now rather more than six lines, 
and in four days its weight has increased four- 
fold. 

As the insect grows, it breathes more freely, 
its excrements are more plentiful, which, as the 
number of hurdles also increases in the room, 
makes it necessary that the room should be bet- 
ter aired. 

Should there be no wind or cold in the at.- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 73 

mosphere, the door and window may be left open 
for a little while. In this second age they have 
consumed 22 lb. 8 oz. of leaves, viz : first day, 
3 lb. 8 oz.; second, 8 lb.; third, 8 lb. 11 oz.; 
fourth day, 2 lb. 5 oz. 

Third age of the Silk Worm. 

On the first day of this age, 3 lb. of the 
small shoots and 3| lb. of picked leaves chopped 
rather coarser than formerly, will be necessary. 

At this age the worms of one ounce of eggs 
should occupy nearly forty-six square feet of 
space, on the hurdles or tables which should 
always be covered with paper. The tempera- 
ture may be now lowered and is not to be raised 
above 73°, but should it be higher externally, 
it may be checked by creating a current of air. 

Particular care must be taken not to remove 
the worms from the wicker hurdles, until they 
have been all nearly roused from their torpid 
state ; there would be no harm if those first 
revived should wait twenty-four hours, till the 
rest are all roused. 

The following are the most certain signs that 
the worms are roused : They issue from their 
old skin with so different an aspect, that any 
one may distinguish them without the aid of 
description ; they make an undulating motion 
8 



74 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

with their heads when horizontally blown upon, 
which is a never- failing sign that they are 
roused, then a gentle motion of the air through 
the room does them good, provided the renew- 
ed air is not colder than their usual atmos- 
phere. 

You should allow to the worms in this third 
age forty- six fret square of space, as has al- 
ready been observed, disposed in a strip down 
the centre of the wicker hurdle, so as to leave 
rather more than a quarter's width down each 
side of the strip. The space to be occu- 
pied by the silk worms, in their different ages, 
being well ascertained, there will be nothing 
more easy, more useful, and more economical 
than to remove, cleanse, and place them in the 
manner above described. 

Until their casting is accomplished, you need 
not touch the worms. Once placed upon the 
wicker hurdles, they feed well without inter- 
fering with one another, and without requiring 
to cleanse the intervals on the sheet of paper. 
Their litter does not become mouldy, unless 
there should be a very unusual and continued 
dampness of weather, but is of a fresh green 
color, thinly scattered, nearly dry, and com- 
posed of the fibres of the leaf, and little por- 
tions of the leaf fallen from the mouth of the 
animal. 



SILK CULTUMST'S MANUAL. 75 

The 3 lb. of young shoots afford the silk 
worms their first meal, as in the preceding age ; 
but when they have eaten the leaves upon the 
shoots, they should have a second meal of about 
1| lb. of leaves, carefully filling with them the 
space between the shoots, in order to equalize 
the distribution of the worms upon strips ; the 
last meal to be given this day will be of 1| lb. 
again of leaves. 

At the end of the second or the third meals, 
there will be a very sensible change in the silk 
worms. They are much larger, their muzzle 
is grown longer, and their color clearer. 

On the second day they will require 17 lb. of 
picked and chopped leaves, the smallest quanti- 
ty given during the two first meals, because, 
near the end of the day, they grow voracious- 
ly hungry. Care must be taken to widen the 
strips when they are fed, in order to allow them 
room. 

The third day they will eat 19 1 lb. of pick- 
ed leaves? chopped, and divided in four meals, 
the two first being the most plentiful. Towards 
evening their hunger decreases, consequently, 
the last should be the least meal. 

This day the silk worms grow fast, their skins 
whiten, the bodies are nearly transparent, and 
the heads are longer. 

The contortions they begin to make with their 



76 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

heads, show that their change approaches. 

The fourth day they will eat lOf lb. only, of 
chopped leaves. The decrease of food is con- 
sequent upon the diminution of appetite al- 
ready mentioned ; many of the worms are alrea- 
dy torpid. 

They should be given four meals, the largest 
first, and the last the least, those only that 
seem to require it, should be fed. Should a 
great number of silk worms on one table be tor- 
pid, whilst others continue to require food, you 
must not wait for the regular hours of their feed- 
ing, but give them a slight meal one or two 
hours after, in order to satisfy them, and that they 
may sink quickly into torpor; this care is of con- 
sequence, and these intermediate meals are very 
beneficial. 

On the fifth day of this age the worms will 
require 5 \ lb. of picked leaves, chopped, and 
distributed as they are needed, this will be 
about the quantity, if it is not enough, more 
may be added, if too much, less can be given. 

These two last days the silk worms begin to 
cast about some silk down. The insect seeks 
free space to slumber in, dry and solitary spots, 
rearing its head upwards, which is known by 
finding it on the edges of the paper, where any 
stalks stick up, upon which it retires. All of 
them not being able thus to separate from each 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 77 

other, are obliged to remain upon their litter, 
but testify uneasiness by rearing up their heads. 
When on the point of sinking into torpor, 
they completely void all excremental matter, 
and there remains in their intestinal tube, a 
yellowish lymph alone, rather transparent, and 
which supplies almost all the animal fluid in 
them. It is that which, before the surface of 
the skin they are going to cast, becomes wrink- 
led and dry, causes them to appear of a yel- 
lowish white color like amber, and semi-trans- 
parent. 

When the worms prepare for the third, and 
even fourth moulting, the air of the labora- 
tory should be gently agitated, but the tempe- 
rature should not be much varied. 

On the sixth day the silk worms begin to 
rouse, and thus accomplish their third age. 

The general view of this age presents the fol- 
lowing results. 

1st. They have consumed nearly sixty pounds 
of leaves and young shoots. 

2d. Their average length, which was six 
lines after the second moulting, has become, in 
less than seven days, above twelve lines. 

3d. Their weight has increased fourfold in 
the same period, and their bodies are more 
wrinkled, particularly about the head, having 
no appearance of hairiness. 
8* 



7S SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

It has been sufficient during this age to open 
the door and the windows, when the weather 
was still and tine, so as to lower the temperature 
bv a degree on! v. 



CHAPTER IV 



REARING OF THE SILK WORMS IN THE 
FOURTH AGE. 

Your worms being recovered from their 
third moulting, will be pretty large, as we have 
already said, they should, therefore, occupy a 
space of 109 square feet, and having now arrived 
to a state of vigor, the temperature of the room 
should be diminished, by keeping constantly a 
draught of air, and if the temperature should be 
rising from 71 to 80°, and the air stagnant, it is 
recommended to burn some faggot wood in 
the fire-place, which should be, if possible, sit- 
uated in an angle of the room, to create a 
complete current of air, and thus change the 
air of all the room thoroughly. If, instead 
of thus acting, when the heat of the sea- 
son rises suddenly, (which augments the fer- 
mentation of the litter,) we should exclude the 
exterior air from the room, we may expose our- 
selves to lose the whole brood, because, as the 
worms grow, the mass of leaves and litter in- 
creasing, the dampness proceeding from it will 
more quickly produce fermentation, the heat 



80 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

would also increase, and the air would soon be 
not only damp, but pestilential. 

As has already been said, you should not 
remove the silk worms, from the hurdles on 
which they have accomplished their third age, 
until they are nearly all well roused, because, 
though the first roused should remain a day or a 
day and a half before being removed, it will not 
hurt them ; you will put the early roused in the 
coolest part of the room, and the hurdles of the 
late roused in the warmest part. If you do not 
wish to take so much trouble, it may suffice to 
give the latest roused worms more space, by 
keeping them farther asunder ; by proceeding 
thus, they will soon come up to the others. 

It will be easy to ascertain by the thermome- 
ter, which parts of the room are constantly the 
hottest ; this knowledge will serve to render 
all the silk worms even sized, particularly if 
those who attend them have any practical skill. 
Those precautions are indispensable if you wish 
the worms to begin to spin at the same period, 
inasmuch as there arises great evils, when some 
of the silk worms begin too long before the 
others. 

We must here repeat how advantageous to 
the art of rearing silk worms is the practice of 
distributing them in regular strips and squares 
which are filled with these insects gradually, 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 81 

and only when they have accomplished their 
various ages. 

1st. Because you need not clean the hurdles 
in the fourth age, the litter which spreads by 
degrees, not heating or contracting any effluvia, 
and not rising much. 

2d. Because the leaf, distributed upon even- 
ly portioned spaces is entirely eaten before it 
is withered and spoilt. 

3d. Because, by this practice the worms can 
feed with facility, move with ease, perspire 
and breathe more freely ; all decisive advanta- 
ges for these insects. 

These advantages cannot be obtained when 
the worms lie too thick ; in that condition they 
cover the surface too closely, the leaves on which 
they lie are wasted, as they cannot possibly eat 
them ; while, on the contrary, when they have 
plenty of room, they seek, in moving, every 
atom of the leaf and eat it up. Besides, when 
straightened, the action of their breathing and 
perspiring tubes is hindered and confined by 
the pressure, either superior or lateral, of one 
worm against the other; whereas, if they have 
full space, the action of these organs, which is 
so necessary to their health, is very free. 

The first day of this age they will require 
about 7 lb. of shoots with leaves, and 12 lb, of 
picked leaves coarsely chopped. 



82 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

When the moment for removing the worms 
from the hurdles comes, one or two hurdles on- 
ly at a time should be covered over with young 
shoots, which, when loaded with worms are re- 
moved, as in the first moultings; but, as in this 
age the worms are heavier, it is recommended 
to put the shoots loaded with them upon some 
portable trays ; thus the worms will be bet- 
ter removed, and carried with less inconven- 
ience. 

The strips on which the worms are laid upon 
hurdles, should occupy about half the space 
allowed them, or 54 J square feet. After hav- 
ing removed all the early roused, if they 
have eaten all the leaves on the shoots, and 
should remain without food upon the hur- 
dles^ you will give them 6 lb. of leaves chop- 
ped a little ; with these leaves the intervals be- 
tween the young shoots should be filled, and 
form the strips into regular order, by sweeping 
into their place any boughs or leaves that are 
scattered irregularly, with a broom made for 
that purpose ; after this second meal, the worms 
formerly heaped up together, will be seen 
stretching out evenly. 

The other 6 lb. of leaves should not be given 
until the second meal has been entirely con- 
sumed. 

Although it is not the general custom to chop 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 83 

or cut the leaves for silk worms in this fourth 
age, it has been, however, found very beneficial 
to give them, coarsely cut up, not only the 
first day, but also the second and third. The 
reason is, that when the silk worms are just is- 
suing from the cast skins, they are weak, and 
not very hungry; therefore fresh leaves, slight- 
ly cut up, by exhaling a stronger smell, stimu- 
late their hunger, and the cut edges are more 
easy to bite. 

The late roused silk worms should be placed 
on hurdles distinct from the earliest. 

At the end of this day, the worms begin to 
show some vigor; they move quickly to the 
leaves, they grow perceptibly, they lose their 
ugly colors, become slightly white, unless they 
are of that spotted species which the French 
call tigres, and assume more decided animal 
action. 

The second day they will consume 33 lb. of 
sorted leaves, slightly cut up. The two first 
meals should be the lightest, and the last the 
most copious. In giving the meals, the space 
occupied by the worms should be widened. 

The third day there will be needed 45 lb. of 
sorted leaves, a little cut. The two first meals 
ought to be the most plentiful, the last meal the 
lightest. 

The fourth day you should give them 51 lb. 



84 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

of cut leaves, the three first meals should be the 
most copious, and the fourth the lightest. The 
worms become still whiter, and at this period 
are more than an inch and a half long. 

No more than 26 lb. of picked leaves will be 
needed the fifth day, because the hunger of the 
insect diminishes much ; the first meal should be 
the most copious. A great number of the worms 
become torpid on this day. You will distribute 
the leaves as they will be wanted, and only on the 
hurdles where the worms are perceived not to 
be torpid ; they will be this day an inch and 
three quarters long. 

The sixth day seven pounds of picked leaves 
will be enough. It is easy to see where and in 
what quantities the worms need food. 

Since the preceding day the silk worms be- 
gin to decrease in size, as they have cleansed and 
cleared themselves of all nutritive substances, 
before they sink into their torpor. The green- 
ish color of the rings has disappeared, and 
their skin seems quite wrinkled. 

On the seventh day of this age, they rouse, 
cast their skins, and accomplish their fourth 
age, having consumed, in that period, 173 lb. 
of sorted leaves, and 7 lb. of shoots with leaves, 
and occupied 109 square feet of space, gradual- 
ly allowed to them. 

On that day the worms, which were before 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 85 

about one inch long, have grown half an inch 
in length, and their weight has augmented four 
fold. " 

In order to renew and lighten the air of the 
room, without particularly heating it, dry straw 
or shavings of wood should be burnt in the fire- 
places, three or four times a day, having, at the 
same time, the door and windows opened for the 
circulation of air ; and if the exterior tempera- 
ture be not cold, and without wind, they may re- 
main so, 'till the interior temperature is lowered 
half a degree ; thus the silk worms will breathe 
continually a pure and dry air, which makes 
them most healthy. 



CHAPTER V 



OF THE FIFTH AGE— FIRST PERIOD. 

This period embraces the management of the 
silk worms from their recovery out of their 
fourth moulting, until they are ready to spin 
their cocoons. 

As the fifth age of the silk worms is the long- 
est, and most decisive, a few practical observa- 
tions will be given, before resuming the descrip- 
tion of their daily progress in this age. It is 
not intended here to give scientific lectures, but 
to endeavor to make some truths obvious, which 
the intelligent cultivator may easily put into 
practice, to protect himself in all cases from 
those losses to which even a man of experience 
may be exposed, not knowing those truths. 

Should the worms die in the first age, the 
loss is trilling, because the expense is not pro- 
longed, while, on the contrary, should they 
perish in the fifth age, the loss is considerable. 
It is, therefore, very important to know the con- 
dition of the worms in this age, to learn how to 
manage them, so as to insure their health and 
strength against the effects of the atmosphere or 
other evils that may assail them. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 87 

It is mostly in this age that you will find the 
advantage of keeping the worms on hurdles; 
for as they will now eat during nine or ten days 
before they are ready to spin, and will grow 
very large, making a prodigious deal of litter, 
they would, if they were kept upon shelves 
made of boards, require to be cleaned every 
day, which would be a considerable trouble; 
but on hurdles made of small reeds which are 
very dry and light materials, and have vacant 
spaces between them, the air will have free ac- 
cess to the litter which sticks and remains among 
the fibres and shreds of the leaves, and it will 
not so suddenly become putrid, moist, and 
mouldy, as it would do if the whole quantity of 
litter and fibres should lie on boards or shelves, 
which did not admit the air underneath. 

Any one will appreciate the above recom- 
mendation, particularly when he knows that as 
the silk worms grow in the fifth age, they are 
liable to three evils, which injure them accord- 
ing to their strength, and to their distribution 
in the :room, and may weaken them so as to 
cause their speedy destruction. 

Those enemies are: — 

1st. The incredible quantity of fluid disenga- 
ged every day from their bodies by the transpira- 
tion and evaporation of the leaves given to them. 

2d. The deadly and mephitic emanations 



88 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

emitted every day from the insects, from their 
excrements; from the leaves and their remains. 

3d. The damp hot atmospheric air, as well as 
the smothering heat of the cocoonery during 
the fifth age. 

These evils injure the silk worms in three 
ways : 

1st. The moist exhalations produced by the 
leaves and the perspiration of the insect; accu- 
mulate in the room, and tend to relax the skin of 
the worms; this organ thus loses its elasticity, 
puts the animal into a state of languor, decreases 
its appetite, alters its secretions; and makes it 
liable to various diseases; and even to death. 

2d. The mephitic emanations issuing from the 
body of the insect; and from the leaves; render 
the silk worm's breathing difficult; destroy its 
excitability, and produce disease and death. 

3d. The dampness and stagnation of atmos- 
pheric air; increased by the moisture of the 
room; create a great fermentation in the dung; 
and consequently, disengagement of heat, which, 
by destroying the elasticity of the air; renders 
it so deadly; as ? in the course of a few hours, to 
destroy the silk worms entirely. 

To these causes of sudden disorders we often 
have to add another, which proceeds from the 
silk worms being too closely distributed on the 
hurdles, particularly in this age. This in- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 89 

sect, as people generally seem to think, does 
not breathe by the mouth, but by small aper- 
tures, which are placed near its legs, and which 
are called stigmata. These breathing vessels 
are almost all stopped up and covered when the 
worms are heaped together, which makes their 
breathing difficult, and the perspiration also 
ceases, much to the detriment of the insect. 

It will be easy to avoid the above diseases, 
1st, by evenly distributing the worms in spaces 
proportioned to their numbers, as has been fre- 
quently repeated; 2d, by renewing the air, and 
keeping the cocooneries dry and lightsome by 
the means already indicated; 3d, by taking- 
care to gather the leaves some time before they 
are wanted, and when they are wet, to have 
them thoroughly dried before they are given 
to the worms; 4th, by keeping the hurdles on 
which the worms are placed free of all excre- 
mental matter; 5th, and lastly, by avoiding 
or preventing smoke, which may occasion the 
instant suffocation and death of the silk worms 
of a cocoonery, particularly should there be 
any dampness in it, which is unluckily too often 
the case. 

These few observations containing all the in- 
structions needed to put any one on his guard, 
it is now time to bring the worms to the period 
when they prepare to rise, and when they re- 
9* 



90 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

ject the food they had lately so voraciously de- 
voured. 

The silk worm comes out from its last moult- 
ing with a larger head and body, the first wrink- 
led and the other rather shrunken ; the room 
should have uniformly 68 or 69§° of heat, and 
at the termination of their fifth age, the silk 
worms should occupy 239 square feet of hur- 
dles. They will consume in this age 1098 lb. 
of sorted picked leaves. 

On the first day of this age the worms should 
fill a space of about 99| square feet of hurdles, 
they will eat a prodigious quantity of leaves, 
which should now be of the best sort you can 
procure for them, because it is now that they 
collect and digest the matter out of which they 
afterwards form their silk. If you were to open 
a worm before the fourth moulting, you would 
find nothing but a watery humour mixed w T ith 
the green mucilage of the leaves which they 
feed on ; but when they are somewhat advanc- 
ed in this last age, you will find in their silk 
vessels a pale or yellow gum, out of which they 
form their cocoons. 

The goodness, therefore, of their silk de- 
pending in a great measure upon their being 
properly fed at this time, care must be taken 
that their food be, in all respects, as good as 
can be got ; not the soft, tender leaves of shoots 



SILK CULTUUIST'S MANUAL. 91 

or suckers, or of a very young tree, but the 
firmest dark green leaves from your oldest trees, 
always free from dew or moisture and damp- 
ness, which would now make the worms drop- 
sical and kill them. 

They must this day be fed, first on thirty- 
six pounds of twigs with leaves, or bunches of 
leaves, and as soon as these are loaded with 
worms, they must be taken off, put upon the 
little portable trays already spoken of, and the 
litter immediately removed. The hurdles must 
be cleaned every two days during this period. 

It must be so managed, that the worms should 
cover rather more than half the space which is 
allotted to them this day, (99 § square feet,) and 
that there should be a void space in the middle 
of each hurdle of about half its width. 

If after cleaning the hurdles any worms 
should be found awake on the litter, by putting 
some leaves they may be taken off like the 
others. Should some after this, remain still in 
torpor, they must be cast away. 

The fresh leaves should now be disposed in 
a longitudinal band, with a vacant space to 
be occupied by brushwood arches in ten or 
eleven days from this, as will be hereafter ex- 
plained. 

The thirty-six pounds of twigs and leaves on 
which the silk worms have been first removed, 



92 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

furnished them with an abundant meal ; and 
you should now divide eighteen pounds of 
leaves more into two meals, which should be 
given them at the interval of six hours. In 
giving the first meal, care must be taken to 
regulate the strips on the hurdles, by sweeping 
any straggling leaves or worms into regular or- 
der with the little broom. 

At the third meal, that is to say, when you 
distribute to the worms the remaining nine 
pounds, you may widen again the strings a 
little more, and should there be too many worms 
in some parts, they should be removed instant- 
ly, and placed on the least crowded parts of the 
hurdles. 

This day the worms appear tolerably strong. 

Attend to the temperature, which, if too high 
might exhaust their vigor, and diminish the 
quantity of silk. With rare exceptions the 
season now calls often for a pure, cool, and re- 
freshing air to relieve and comfort all kinds of 
animated beings. Silk culturists agree, that if 
the dryness of the atmosphere should be such as 
to affect our own feelings, the floor of the co- 
coonery should be sprinkled with water, and 
buckets of water be kept there, which will af- 
ford a salutary moisture by exhalation. Let us 
not, however, expose the worms to an opposite 
extreme, which would, no doubt, retard their 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 93 

last urgent task, or prevent them from filling 
well their cocoons. 

The second day the worms will consume 
fifty-four pounds of sorted leaves, divided into 
four meals ; the first should be the least, and 
the last the most plentiful. 

In distributing the food the strips should be 
widened gradually 5 at the close of this day the 
worms are much whiter, and considerably de- 
veloped. 

The third day they will require about eighty- 
four pounds of sorted leaves. The first feed 
should be about fifteen pounds, the second and 
third of twenty each, and the last of about thir- 
ty pounds. They continue to whiten and many 
appear upwards of two inches long ; they could 
eat, on this day a larger quantity than here speci- 
fied ; but it is most beneficial not to add to this 
quantity, that they may thoroughly digest it ; be- 
sides which, it strengthens their constitution, 
and makes them livelier. The strips they oc- 
cupy should be widened whenever they are fed. 

The fourth day they will want one hundred 
and eight pounds of sorted leaves, the first feed 
should be the smallest and the last the largest ; 
their voraciousness seems to increase ; they grow 
larger and stronger ; some are two inches and 
a half long. 

The fifth day they will consume one hundred 



94 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

and sixty-two pounds of picked leaves, you will 
distribute to them in the same proportions as 
the preceeding day, the last meal always the 
most copious, and if necessary you must not con- 
fine them to four meals, but must take care 
that they get some intermediate food; when the 
regular distribution of leaves is devoured in less 
than an hour and a half, the worms must not 
be suffered to fast four hours, but have some 
leaves in the interim, particularly if there should 
be any hurdles on which the worms had not 
been at first as well fed as the others ; for al- 
though the quantity of food has been fixed for 
this day, it is always necessary to be regulated 
by experience. 

In the course of this day the hurdles should be 
cleaned. If the litter is dry and fresh, the worms 
should not be shifted till the evening, or the be- 
ginning of the next day. The following manner 
is employed to clean the worms at this period. 

You will place a line of fresh leaves the 
whole length of the hurdles near the worms, to 
which they will immediately attach themselves ; 
and as soon as they get on the new leaves, the 
litter they have left can be swept away, and re- 
moved from the room. During this operation, if 
the exterior air be damp, which would indicate 
that of the laboratory being still more so, there 
should be burnt light blazing fires, and if this 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 95 

should raise the temperature too much, it may 
easily be lowered by opening the doors and 
windows. 

On the sixth day the silk worms should have 
195 lb. of picked leaves, which you will divide 
in ^ve meals, the last of which should be the 
most plentiful. The worms now eat most vora- 
ciously, and some even attack the mulberries 
which are amongst the leaves. 

If, after having distributed the leaves, the 
quantity appears insufficient upon some hurdles, 
or if it has all been devoured in an hour, you 
should add an intermediate meal. 

Knowing the quantity of leaves to be given 
in this day, it is easy to distribute them either 
into four or five meals, as may best appear to 
suit the worms. 

The shelly black shining proboscis placed at 
the extremity of the muzzle is become stronger; 
it is in this proboscis that are placed the small 
saws which tear and separate the hard leaves, 
and even the fibrous parts of the leaf. 

Some jof the worms are now three inches long, 
they are whiter, they present to the touch a 
soft velvety surface, and are strong and healthy. 
Take care to give more food to those which 
have been last removed, and allow them more 
space, and they will soon equal the earliest in 
size. 

They will require on the seventh day, one 



96 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

hundred and eighty pounds of well sorted leaves. 
The first meal should be the largest, and the 
others should diminish ; should there be any in- 
termediate meals wanted, they must be given 
as before. 

Some worms will now be seen upwards of 
three inches long, the extremity of the insect 
begins to grow shining and yellowish, which 
shows they are approaching to maturity. Some 
of them begin to eat with less voracity. They 
have now attained their utmost growth, being 
upwards of three inches long, and an inch and 
a half round, nearly. 

Towards the close of this day they begin to 
lose size and weight, because from this time 
they take less food in proportion to the quantity 
of excrement and steamy vapor which their 
bodies discharge. 

We shall continue to observe them as they 
decrease, as we have done while they were in- 
creasing. They are at present in their highest 
condition. 

They must have on the eighth day, one hun- 
dred and thirty- two pounds of well sorted leaves. 
The proportion of leaves must diminish, as the 
appetite of the worms decreases much. The 
leaves, as usual, should be divided into four 
meals, the first being the largest, and gradually 
diminishing. 

In order to bring on backward worms to ma- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 97 

turity, some intermediate food should be given, 
according to their wants. 

They now advance towards maturity, which 
may be perceived by their yellow color, which 
increases from ring to ring. Their backs begin 
to shine, and the rings lose the dark green color 
that marked them. The advance to maturity 
is also denoted, in some of them, by the diminu- 
tion of their bulk in the course of this day; and 
by their trying to fix themselves to the edges of 
the hurdles, to void the substance with which 
they are filled. 

This day, and as speedily as possible, accord- 
ing as the signs of maturity increase, and as 
the litter gets moist, the hurdles should be 
cleaned in the manner before described, being 
very careful not to bruise the worms. It is 
now that light fires, and the purification of air 
are more essential than on any former change, 
particularly in a large laboratory. 

On the ninth day distribute to the worms nine- 
ty-nine pounds of leaves, as may be wanted. On 
this day their yellow hue grows deeper, their bo- 
dies will be of an ivory color and polish, somewhat 
transparent towards their necks with a little of 
a golden appearance. The muzzle is become of 
abrighter red than it was in the beginning. From 
time to time a gentle fire should be lighted, parti- 
cularly in the night, and the air entirely renewed,, 
10 



98 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

Most of the worms will leave off eating, and 
before they are ready to spin, they will somewhat 
lessen in size; but their bodies will feel more 
firm and consistent than before. 

They will begin to desist from eating, and to 
wander about, stretching out their heads in 
quest of a place proper to ^x in and spin their 
cocoons. Now although, on account of pre- 
serving some little order and method, the in- 
structions for accommodating them at their spin- 
ning time, are not given till the next chapter, 
yet it is necessary that you should have looked 
into that part, in order to have made the suit- 
able preparations for them some time before- 
hand ; for you would find yourself greatly em- 
barrassed to do it when numbers of the worms 
were to be accommodated, if you had not made 
some provision before. 

It may be proper, before we end this chapter, 
to insert here a table of the rearing of silk worms 
from one ounce of eggs, taken from the work of 
M. Bonafous, a distinguished pupil of Count 
Dandolo. The only difference between the pu- 
pil and his great master is in the spaces prescribed 
by Monsieur Bonafous, which are greater than 
those marked by Count Dandolo. 

We must here inform our readers that the 
measures and weights in the following table, as 
well as those which we have made use of in the 



SILK CULTURfST'S MANUAL. 99 

progress of our own work, are French, the first, 
when reduced to American measure, are as 
follow, fractions omitted: 



Feet. 


Inches. 


Am. Feet. 


9 


6 


10 


19 




21 


46 




52 


109 




124 


239 




272 



And the quantity of leaves when reduced to 
American weights, are as follow, omitting frac- 
tions : 

French lbs. Am. lbs. oz. 

7 7 12 

21 23 4 

69 76 9 

210 229 8 

1,281 1,400 

The French foot is divided into twelve inches, 
and the inch into twelve lines. It is longer by 
nine lines than the American foot, or one foot 
7.100 American, nearly. Those who intend to 
regulate the spaces by the rules of either Dan- 
dolo, (which we have followed,) or by those of 
Bonafous, may easily do so, by noting the di- 
mensions of each hurdle or feeding frame. The 
dimensions of Count Dandolo may be considered 
as a minimum, or the least that can be allowed, 
to secure the health of silk worms. It cannot 
be too often repeated, that the constant rule to 
be attended to, is to give the worms ample 
space, and never to permit them to be crowded. 



100 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 



Table of the rearing of silk worms to 



AGES. 


Space occu 
pied by the 
worms on 
the feeding 
frames or 
hurdles. 


TempHure ; 

Fahrenheit's 

Scale. 


Quantity of 
leaves. 


Total of 
leaves for 
each age. 




Ft. in. 




lb. oz. 


lb. 


fist day^ 
j 2d do | 






| 1 6| 




First Age< 3d do } 
j 4th do j 


■ 9 6 


75° 


< 3 0> 


7 






1 1 6| 

10 6 J 




\_5th do J 








fist day"^ 
j 






r-4 s ] 

{ 6 12 > 
1 7 8| 




1 1 

Sec. ge<( 2d do > 

| 3d do | 


• 19 


73 to 75° 


21 


L4thdo J 






12 4 J 




fist day-^i 
2d do 1 






f6 12^ 

|21 8 1 

J 22 8{ 

1 12 8 ( 




„, , , . j 3d do I 
Th'dAge^ 4thdo > 


46 


71 to 73° 


69 


| 5th do | 
L6thdo J 






I 6 8 
L " "J 










"1st day"^ 






f23 4^ 






2d do 






39 






3d do 






52 8 




F'th Age< 


4th do } 
5th do 
6th do 


109 


68 to 71° 


{59 4> 

29 4 1 

6 12 j 


210 


JTthdo J 






1 " "J 






fist day^ 






f42 0^ 






2d do 






6 10 






3d do 






93 






4th do 






130 




Fifth Age«< 


5th do v 
6th do ? 
7th do 
8th do 
9th do 
LlOthdoJ 


'239 


68 to 69° " 


, 185 8 

^223 Of 

214 

150 

120 14 

I 56 4J 


1,281 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 101 

the sixth age, from one ounce of eggs. 

OBSERVATIONS. 



Tender young leaves chopped fine ; four meals, progressively increased. 

do do do the first the largest, the last the smallest. 

do do do four meals. 

The first meal or 9 oz., the others less, if the leaves have not been eaten. 
Tender leaves, chopped fine. Worms casting their first skins. 

Half tender branches and half leaves, cut fine; the first meal twelve ounces, the 

other leaves in two meals. 
Tender leaves, four meals ; the two first less than the two last. Enlarge the spaces. 

do do the two first the largest. 

do do distributed as wanted. Worms casting their second skins. 

Half tender branches, half leaves a little chopped; second meal 1 lb. 14 oz. 
Chopped leaves four meals ; the two first less than the two last. Enlarge the spaces. 

do do the two first the largest. 

do do do do the last, least. 

do do distributed as required. The third casting of their skins. 

do do do do Worms are roused. 

9 lb. of branches, 14 lb. of leaves, cut coarsely ; give the branches first. 
Leaves coarsely cut, four meals ; the two first the smallest. Enlarge the spaces, 
do do three meals ; the three first the least, the last 17 lb. 4 oz. 

Whole leaves, four meals ; the three first 16 lb. 4 ez. the last 10 1-2 lb. 
Picked leaves distributed as wanted ; the first meal the largest. 

do do do do Worms prepared to cast their skins. 

Leaves as wanted. Worms are roused. 

Half branches half leaves. Enlarge the spaces. 

Picked leaves, four meals ; the first the smallest. 12 lb. the last 22 lb. 

do the first meal 22 lb. the last 27 lb. 12 oz. 

do do 27 lb. 12 ez. the last 37 1-2 lb. 

do do 37 1-2 lb. the second 46 lb. 14 oz. 

do fi>ur meals, the last the most abundant. 

do do the first meal the largest, the rest to lessen gradttalff. 

do four or five meals, the first the largest, 46 lb. 14 oz. 

do distributed as wanted. Worms approaching maturity. 

do do do if not enough give more. 



10* 



102 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

The general result of what we have stated is 
that in the course of about thirty days, in which 
the silk worms have attained their greatest 
development and heaviest weight, we may ob- 
serve the following facts : — 

1st. That in their growth they have become 
forty times larger than they were when first 
hatched, being then about the size of one line. 

2d. That in thirty days their weight has be- 
come nine thousand times greater, since it re- 
quired 54,525 young hatched silk worms to 
form an ounce, (vide Dandolo, chap, v, § 3,) 
whereas six silk worms, when full grown, are 
now sufficient. 

From the ninth day of the fifth age, and the 
thirty-first of the life of the silk worm, until the 
completion of its maturity, we shall see, that 
although they need little food, they will re- 
quire great care, of which we shall speak in the 
following chapter. 



CHAPTER VI 



SECOND PERIOD OF THE FIFTH AGE— THE 
SPINNING OF THE COCOONS. 

Let us for a while leave the silk worms on 
the hurdles, to mention some things relative to 
them, and to show the preparations we should 
makefor the accomplishment of their fifth, and 
in the shape of worms, their last age. 

This age can only be looked on as terminated 
when the cocoon is perfect. When the worm 
has poured out all its silk, and formed its cocoon, 
it casts its envelope, and becomes a chrysalis. 
But to form the cocoon, it must attain to this 
point, viz : of becoming a compound of only two 
remaining substances, the silky substance and the 
animal substance. It must then have discharged 
all the excremental matter contained in its in- 
testinal tube. 

It is not only requisite to know the last de- 
gree of perfection of the worm in order to fa- 
cilitate the means of forming its cocoons, but 
also to know all the other operations necessary 
to insure the cocoons being of a very good 
quality. 

The cleanliness of the hurdles in these last 



104 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

days of the fifth age, requires great attention to 
preserve the health of the silk worms. 

It is with these insects as with all other ani- 
mals, some are quick in all their operations, 
others more slow ; and it is important to form 
just observations on these facts. 

We have seen, in the foregoing chapters, how 
the worms begin and continue to show signs of 
maturity. This last day they attain perfection, 
which may be ascertained by the following in- 
dications: They crawl on the leaves without 
eating them, they rear their heads as if in search 
of something to climb on; their rings draw in; 
the skin of their necks becomes wrinkled, and 
their bodies have more softness to the touch than 
heretofore, and feel like soft dough. Their 
color also changes, and the whole body assumes 
the transparency of a ripe yellow plum. When 
these signs appear in any of the insects, every 
thing should he prepared for their rising, that 
those worms that are ready to rise may not lose 
their strength and silk, in seeking for the sup- 
port they require. 

We have now brought the worms to that pe- 
riod of their lives, at which your labor of feed- 
ing them ends, for, from the time they are quite 
ready to spin, they take no more food of any kind, 
though their lives in different forms last near a 
month longer, and in cold climates a good deal 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 105 

more. Yet, though you will be eased of the 
trouble of feeding those which are come to their 
spinning time, you must, for a few days, till 
they are all settled in their work, give them a 
diligent attention. 

To avoid the loss that might accrue from de- 
lay, there should be bunches ready made of 
small twigs, or common broom, or of clean 
bean stalks, or, in short, of any bush, or brush 
wood, free from leaves, dirt, moisture, moodi- 
ness, or oiFensive smell. With these twigs you 
are to form several long arbours, arched at top, 
quite across each shelf; the distance between 
the sides of these arbours, should leave the arch 
open quite through, so that there may be room 
to put in your arm, and feed those worms 
which are not yet quite ready to spin. 

You should form these arbours so as to have 
a sort of bushy appearance without being too 
thick or too thin. But if the making of them 
be thought too troublesome, it may sufficiently 
answer the same purpose to place between the 
shelves branches of broom a little aslant, so that 
the worms that climb up may run no chance of 
dropping off, taking care to spread out the 
branches like fans, that the air may penetrate 
through all parts, and the worms may work 
with ease. When the worms are too near each 



106 SILK CULTURISrS MANUAL. 

other they do not work so well, and form dou- 
ble cocoons, whose silk is of an inferior quality. 

It would be endless to give all the methods 
which might be contrived for this purpose, but 
whatever mode may be adopted, it is always 
desirable that the bushes should be well plac- 
ed, well arched, clean and light, and not too 
thick ; that as we have already said, the air 
may circulate freely, and that the worms may 
work with ease. 

While the silk worms are seeking places 
to spin their cocoons in, some of them will 
often wander about the middle of the hurdles, 
wasting their silk in useless floss. Indeed, if 
the hurdles are furnished with arched arbours, 
as recommended, the silk worms will scarcely 
miss a place where they may readily spin their 
cocoons; but in large hurdles, that have the 
twigs only placed round them, you must often 
look, and whatever worms you find wandering un- 
der the hurdles, or far from the arched arbours, 
you must take and place them near the twigs, 
provided they are ready to spin, and their wan- 
dering from their food is a sign that they are 
so ; you need not fear hurting them by taking 
them in your hands ; but observe to take them 
up with whatever sticks to their claws, without 
tearing it away, for fear of blunting the claws 
by which they are now to climb. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 107 

As many of the worms will continue to eat 
for some time after others have begun to spin, 
you must constantly supply them with the 
best kind of leaves, sprinkling them very thinly 
over them, and feeding them often, and this 
even at night just before you go to bed, and as 
early as you can in the morning; for their quan- 
tity of silk, and their strength and activity in 
spinning it, depends now upon their being pro- 
perly and fully supplied as long as they conti- 
nue to eat ; for which reason, you must give 
them leaves often, but few at a time, because if 
they lie under the arbours it is not easy to clear 
away their litter, which, however, must be 
done. 

This operation, although tedious, is easy 
enough, with the aid of the portable trays; and 
by carefully putting the silk worms upon them. 
This done, the litter should be cleansed and the 
worm gently slided down upon it by slanting 
the tray. They should, strictly, only be given 
the quantity of food they may want, and that 
very sparingly. 

In sliding the silk worms upon hurdles, they 
should be placed in squares of about two feet, 
beginning on the side upon which the arched 
arbours are already placed, and forming the 
squares close to them, so that the silk worms 



10S SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

may find no difficulty in rising upon the bushes ; 
a distance of eight or ten inches must be left 
between the squares. In the centre of these 
squares should be fixed bushes of broom, or 
small dry boughs, to afford the worms room to 
spin, and not leave the vacuities amongst the 
branches too large, because they would waste 
a great deal of their silk, before they can fix on 
a proper place ; the size of their cocoons, which 
is that of pigeons' eggs, will direct you in this 
matter. 

If you find that as many worms have got 
amongst the branches as can conveniently spin 
there, then take away those which have not yet 
mounted, and place them upon another hurdle, 
with worms which will spin nearly at the same 
time; for if the worms are too much crowded 
in the arbours, they will be more apt to spin 
double cocoons, which having two worms in one, 
cannot be easily reeled off: therefore, as you 
look over the arbours, wherever you see two 
worms begin one common cocoon, take one of 
them away, and place it in some other part of 
the twigs. 

A little before the worms on any stand are 
ready to spin, you must clean away their litter 
from all the hurdles, that the stands may be 
sweet and airy at the time of spinning, and that 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 109 

you may not at that time disturb or shake the 
arbours where they are spinning ; for this would 
stop and interrupt their work, so that some 
would desist from making any more silk and the 
cocoons of others would be ill-formed, and dif- 
ficult to reel off; therefore you must take care 
to shake or molest them as little as you can. 

As you were directed, in feeding the worms, 
to keep those of the same age on the same hur- 
dle, so you should also in distributing them as 
they grow large, always keep them on the same 
stands, that they may spin at the same time. 
It is supposed that you have many stands of 
hurdles. 

When most of the worms on any hurdles have 
climbed the branches in order to spin their co- 
coons, you will generally find some on each 
hurdle, which are weak and lazy, which do not 
eat, and do not seem of the disposition of those 
that have risen, but remain motionless on the 
leaves, without giving any sign of rising ; these 
should be collected from all the several hurdles 
where they lie, and should be put in a dry 
clean room of at least 73° of heat, where there 
are twigs or branches prepared for them. 

As soon as they are thus placed, some will 
rise directly, others will eat, and then rise, and 
so on until all shall have risen. These worms 
11 



110 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

will soon acquire the vigour and stimulus they 
want, by being put in a warmer and much 
drier apartment. 

Cold and damp weather during the time of 
their spinning is extremely hurtful; in very cold 
weather the worms desist from their work ; you 
may see them, while their cocoons are yet thin, 
either moving very slowly, or quite inactive ; 
if you remove one of the cocoons to a warm 
place, the worm immediately begins to work 
with activity, and desists again when put in the 
cold, where, if it continues, the worm at length 
totally leaves off its spinning, and is changed 
into a beetle or chrysalis, which is its state in 
the cocoon before it becomes a butterfly. This 
interruption, though the worm should resume 
its spinning, makes the cocoon difficult to wind 
oif, the thread often breaking; therefore, if 
this kind of weather should happen, you must 
make fire in the room, and if the temperature 
becomes too high, admit fresh air for a little 
while. 

This inconvenience of cold and moisture will 
happen chiefly in cold and changeable climates ; 
but in hot climates you will oftener have occa- 
sion to guard against sultry and suffocating 
heat, which can easily be done by leaving the 
current of air free on the side where it blows 
coolest. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. HI 

In large laboratories the great mass of silk 
worms in evacuating themselves, often soil one 
another with excremental matter. Moisture, 
as we have frequently observed, is very perni- 
cious to these insects, and, if once wet, it checks 
their transpiration : that alone will destroy their 
vigour, and indispose them to rise. As fast as 
the hedges and clumps are formed, the worms 
that rise on them shed a liquid matter upon the 
litter and paper, where lie the later silk worms, 
which increases their languor and listlessness, 
even supposing the air to be pure ; if it were 
damp, they would be slower and lazier still, so 
the best is to remove them at once to a tole- 
rably warm spot, provided with branches and 
a few fresh leaves. 

With this assistance, the lazy worms will dis- 
tribute themselves in the branches, evacuate, 
and begin to spin their cocoons. 

As soon as all the worms are off the hurdles, 
or have either risen, or been carried away, no 
time should be lost in cleaning the hurdles, 
which will be the last time of performing this 
operation. It is beneficial to carry off, as quick- 
ly as possible, every thing that tends to corrupt 
the air, or make it damp. 

The fifth age is accomplished when the silk 
worm pours out its silk, and forms the cocoon. 



112 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

The cocoon is perfected when it has attained 
a firm consistence, which is known by pressing 
it gently with the fingers, the silk worm then 
casts its envelope and has become a chrysalis 5 
here ends its fifth and last age. The foreign 
writers reckon as many as seven ages ending 
with the dropping of the eggs by the butterfly ; 
as naturalists, they may be right; as agricultu- 
rists we think this division unnecessary, and 
reckon only the ages of the worm while it con- 
tinues such. 



CHAPTER VII. 



OF THE GATHERING OF THE COCOONS, 

AND THEIR MANAGEMENT FOR SALE 

OR REPRODUCTION 

There is scarcely any thing, amongst the va- 
rious wonders which the animal creation affords, 
more admirable than the variety of changes 
which the silk worm undergoes ; but the curious 
texture of that silken covering with which it sur- 
rounds itself before it arrives at the perfection 
of its animal life, vastly surpasses what is made 
by other animals of this class. All the caterpil- 
lar kind do indeed undergo changes like those of 
the silk worm, and the beauty of many of them 
in their butterfly state greatly exceeds theirs ; 
but the covering which they put on, before this 
change into a fly, is poor and mean, when com- 
pared to that golden tissue in which the silk 
worm wraps itself. They indeed come forth 
in a variety of colours, their wings glittering 
with scarlet and gold, yet they are but the 
beings of a summer's day, both their life and 
beauty quickly vanish, and they leave no re- 
membrance after them; but the silk worm 
leaves behind it such beautiful, such beneficial 
11* 



114 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

monuments, as at once record both the wisdom 
of the Creator, and his bounty to man. 

The matter out of which the silk is formed 
is, while in the silk worm, only a fine yellow 
transparent gum, contained in two vessels as 
thick as a large knitting needle ; these vessels 
lie close to one another, and communicate with 
two small orifices below its mouth ; on which 
account it is, that though the silk thread as it 
is, spun seems only single, yet it is in reality 
two threads sticking slightly together by their 
sides from beginning to end, and they may be 
easily seen and drawn asunder by the help of 
a microscope, or even without one. This gum 
is of a particular species, neither dissolvable 
in water nor spirit of wine, though they will 
a little soften it, and it receives its firmness 
and tenacity immediately upon the silk worm's 
drawing it out in a thread, from the air which 
dries its moisture. 

We take this gum to be of the nature of horn 
melted into the state of a jelly ; for the silk 
vessel, being taken out of the worm and hung up, 
will, in one day, become quite dry and hard, 
not differing in appearance from a piece of tough 
yellow horn, and having the same smell when 
burned: thus silk is only an excessively fine 
hair, with some small portion of gum on its 
surface, such as water can dissolve, and which 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 115 

causes several of these hairs to adhere together 
when reeled out of warm water, and it is this 
part of the gum which, by its dissolution, oc- 
casions the waste suffered by the silk in boil- 
ing; but there is much greater waste than 
this would occasion when the silk is artificially 
gummed, as is sometimes fraudulently done, to 
increase its weight, or to make it lie smooth, in 
order to conceal what has been ill reeled. 

The silk worm can fix and form its cocoon in 
any angle, or hollow place that is nearly of the 
same size with the cocoon : it generally roams 
about for some time amongst the branches, till, 
having got a fit place, it begins to work by first 
spinning thin and irregular threads which are 
to support its future structure ; upon these he 
forms on the first day, a sort of oval of a loose 
texture, which is called the floss or tow silk ; 
within this, on the subsequent three days, it 
will complete the cocoon, remaining always on 
the inside of the sphere which it is forming; 
during its work it rests on its hind part, and 
with its mouth and fore legs fastens and directs 
the thread. This thread is not directed in con- 
tinued rounds on the inside of the ball, but is 
spun in spots forward and backward, in a sort 
of wavy figure ; and this is the cause why a co- 
coon, in winding off its silk, will perhaps not 
turn once round while ten or twelve yards of 



116 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

silk are drawn out. This movement has been 
admirably imitated in the Piedmont reel, as we 
shall show in its place. 

At the end of four days at farthest, reckon- 
ing from the moment when they first begin 
casting the floss, the worms have finished their 
cocoons, whose inside is generally besmeared 
with a sort of gum, of the same nature with 
that out of which the silk is formed, and 
which seems designed, where they work in 
open air, to protect them from the rain, for 
the coccon resists the wet so well, assisted by 
the silk which is around it, that those balls, 
when first put into hot water to be reeled off, 
swim on the top like small bladders, not admit- 
ting the water inside unless they are imperfect- 
ly formed, or the silk almost reeled off. When 
the cocoon is finished, the silk worm being now 
much shortened and wrinkled, so that the rings 
of its body appear very deep, it rests a while, and 
then throws off its skin ; this may be called the 
fifth moulting, though not mentioned amongst 
its others, because it does not interfere with 
your management: and now, upon opening a 
cocoon, you would see the worm in the form of 
a beetle or chrysalis, in shape somewhat like a 
kidney bean, but pointed at one end, having a 
brown smooth skin, with rings, and its skin 
which it throws off lies in the cocoon with it. 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 117 

In this form it continues according to the dif- 
ferent heat of the climate. It then throws oif 
the chrysalis skin, which may be called the sixth 
moulting, and has now the complete form of a 
white butterfly, with four wings, two black 
eyes, and two horns or antlers branching side- 
ways, like two very small black feathers. It 
then pours from its mouth a tasteless liquid, 
nearly like that which moistens and softens the 
envelope which wraps it, and also the strong 
web of the cocoon in which it is enclosed. You 
will know the formation of the moth, and its 
disposition to come out, by seeing one of the ex- 
tremities of the cocoon being wet; some hours 
after these signs have appeared, and some- 
times even in one hour after, the moth will pierce, 
through the cocoon, and come out ; therefore, 
lest you should lose your cocoons in this way, 
it is necessary that you gather them and that 
the chrysalis should be killed in those which 
you have not leisure to reel off before the 
time of the moth's piercing them, after hav- 
ing first jnade choice of a sufficient number to 
breed from. 

The time in which the silk worms finish their 
cocoons varies according to the weather; ex- 
perience teaches that strong, healthy and well 
managed silk worms, will complete their work 
in three and a half or four days at farthest, 



118 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

reckoning from the moment when they first be- 
gin casting floss, as we have already said. 
You may know whether they have finished by 
shaking gently the cocoons in your hands, for if 
the chrysalis is loose and rattles in it, it is a sign 
that they have done spinning, that is to say, all 
that began to spin at or near the same time with 
the one on which you make the trial ; but in 
order to be perfectly sure, you may not gather 
them until the seventh or eighth days are elaps- 
ed ; then begin with those shelves where they 
spun first, taking the branches and twigs down 
regularly, and pulling the cocoons from amongst 
them successively. 

In gathering the cocoons, you should make 
four different assortments of them, for which, 
purpose you must have four baskets : in one of 
these, place gently those which are designed for 
breed ; in another put all those that are double, 
having two worms in them ; in the third put 
the firmest and hardest of those which are to 
be reeled ; and in the fourth those which are of 
a looser texture. Those which are very thin, 
unfinished, or spotted, may make a fifth sort. 

Let your choice of those which are for breed, 
be always from those shelves or arbours where 
they begin to spin earliest. Choose from these 
the hardest, particularly when the two extremi- 
ties are hard, and the web fine ; those that are 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 119 

a little depressed in the middle, as if tightened 
by a ring or circle, and not the largest, that 
your breed may be strong and healthy. For if 
you make use of soft and imperfect cocoons, 
which are the produce, generally, of weak 
worms, your future broods will degenerate, both 
in size and vigor, and give you vastly more 
trouble, and less profit than strong and healthy 
ones. 

In order that the farmer may judge of the 
quantity of cocoons that it will be proper or ad- 
visable for him to put aside and preserve for 
eggs, it is right that he should be told that six- 
teen ounces of cocoons will produce about one 
ounce of eggs, and one ounce of eggs, well 
managed, will produce from 112 to 127 pounds 
of cocoons of the very best quality. — Dandolo. 

Whether the laboratory be large or small, 
the produce will always be exactly in the above 
proportion, and will not diminish, let the season 
be ever so unfavorable, if the rules we have pre- 
scribed, are strictly adhered to. 

To return to the cocoons destined for breed, it 
maybe said with full confidence, that if they are 
taken from a well managed laboratory, it is need- 
less to give one's self much trouble in choosing 
and sorting them. Several experiments have 
proved the above fact. 

If this choice is to be made, it is recommend- 



120 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

ed to select the white ones in preference, and 
keep the colored ones either for sale or to reel, 
because the white silk commands always a 
higher price than the yellow ; if you have no 
white cocoons, then choose the straw-colored 
ones. Attention should be paid to having an 
equal uumber of males and females, though 
there are no certain signs to distinguish the 
cocoons which are to produce the male moth 
from those that contain the female 5 the follow- 
ing are the least erroneous and best known. 

The male cocoons, that is to say those which 
generally contain the male insects, are smaller, 
sharper at one or both ends, and depressed in 
the middle, as it were with a ring; the round 
full cocoons, without ring or depression in the 
middle, usually contain the female. 

After the cocoons have been taken down from 
the bush, those which are intended for eggs 
should be stripped of any down or floss that 
may still hang about them, so that the moth may 
find no difficulty in coming out. Then, as far 
as you can distinguish them, put the males on 
one table, and the females on another, that 
they may not copulate too soon, and before they 
have discharged a viscid humor of a yellow red- 
dish color, which prevents their fecundity; 
they generally discharge this humor in one hour 
after coming out of the cocoon. Of this opera- 






SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 121 

tion, we will speak more at length in the direc- 
tions about breeding, which will form the sub- 
ject of the next chapter. 

The rest of your cocoons which are to be 
reeled, must either be reeled off directly, or, 
must be proceeded with so as to prevent the 
moth's piercing them, as you will see present- 
ly ; for though the silk of those cocoons which 
are reeled off immediately is said to appear 
somewhat more bright and glossy, yet there 
will be no difference in the goodness of their 
silk from those in which the chrysalis is killed 
in order to preserve them, provided you kill 
them in a proper manner; besides, where you 
have a great quantity of cocoons, it cannot be 
expected that you should be able to reel off 
many before the time of the moth's piercing ; 
therefore you must be careful in preventing 
this, which, if it should happen, would be an 
irreparable loss ; and thus, by having all the 
cocoons in a condition to wind them off at your 
leisure, you will be able to go the more regu- 
larly about it, and to reel off their silk to great- 
er advantage and perfection. 

Most persons in Europe, where silk worms 
are bred, do not reel off their cocoons, but sell 
them to those who make this their business ; 
and there is no doubt but that all manufactures 
are the more expeditiously carried on, the more 
12 



122 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

branches they are divided into ; yet where 
persons who raise silk worms have leisure and 
conveniency, they will considerably increase 
the profit if they know how to reel their silk 
themselves. 

The sorting and separating of the strong, 
hard, and thick cocoons, from the thin and soft 
ones, as above directed, will be of some service 
when you intend to kill the chrysalis within 
them, in order to prevent their piercing, for 
as this is done by the means of heat, the thick 
and hard cocoons will require to be placed 
where the degree of heat is greatest, that it 
may penetrate more effectually through their 
thick and hard substance. There are three 
methods of suffocating the chrysalis in the co- 
coon : first, by the ardent heat of the mid-day 
sun ; second, by the heat of ovens, such as they 
have after the bread has been drawn ; and last- 
ly, by the steam proceeding from boiling water ; 
in the first and third of these methods, there is 
no danger of the heat injuring the silk, fand 
therefore they are to be preferred when con- 
venience permits. 

In order to kill the chrysalis by the heat of 
the sun, lay the cocoons on a linen or cotton 
sheet, but not too close, or one upon another, 
and expose them thus to the heat of the sun in 
open air, when it is perfectly dry, from 11, A. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 123 

M. to 4, P. M., wrap them up carefully in the 
linen in order that the heat may the better pro- 
duce the intended effect, and put them for the 
night in a very warm place ; renew the same 
operation during four days, in that time there 
is no doubt that the moths will be killed, par- 
ticularly in warm climates. 

The heat of an oven, such as it is after the 
bread has been drawn, will generally kill them ; 
but this requires nicety and attendance, for if 
it is too hot, or if they remain there too long, 
it will scorch and injure the silk, and if too 
cool the chrysalis will recover; the cocoons 
should be put in long flat baskets, lined with 
coarse paper, in order that they may not be 
burned by touching the sides of the oven ; the 
oven's mouth should be well stopped, and in 
about an hour after they have been there, it 
will be time to take them out, and sooner, if 
upon listening you hear a small crackling noise 
come from them ; after taking them out cover 
them up in blankets made hot, and when they 
are entirely cooled, expose them to the air or 
to the sun, because the heat of the oven will 
make some moisture ooze out of the chrysalides 
which are killed, which should thus be dried 
up, lest it rot or injure the silk; it is neces- 
sary to pick out the cocoons spotted by the burst- 
ing of the chrysalis, which would communicate 



124 S^LK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

their infection to all those that may be near 
them. 

The third method of killing the chrysalis, 
which is by the steam of boiling water, is pre- 
ferable to either of the others, as it performs 
the work without any injury to the silk, and 
also with certainty and expedition; it may be 
done in the following manner. 

Have a broad but shallow wicker basket 
not made too tight, and of such a size as will 
fit and go into a kettle or boiler ; it should be 
of such a depth as you find by experience that 
the steam can penetrate through the heap of 
cocoons ; it should also have a wicker cover, 
to shut over the cocoons which are put into it. 
Having filled it with cocoons, shut the cover 
and let it down to within an inch of the hot 
water, then cover it with a blanket in order to 
concentrate more of the vapour, and by thus 
increasing the heat bring the operation sooner 
and more effectually to a close. After it has 
remained in this situation five or six minutes, 
which is sufficient to kill the chrysalides at the 
bottom of the basket, take it out, and turning it 
upside down, fix it in the same manner as be- 
fore, over the steam ; five or six minutes more 
will be sufficient to kill the chrysalides of those 
cocoons which were before uppermost, but now 
next to the water. Thus, when they are suffi- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 125 

ciently steamed, pour them out in a heap on a 
blanket, made very hot, and wrap them up close- 
ly (but not so as to crush or flatten them, which 
is of the greatest importance,) that by this con- 
tinued heat you may be more certain of having 
killed the chrysalides; then fill the basket again 
and proceed in the same manner until all your 
cocoons are steamed. 

When the cocoons are cold in the blankets 
in which they are wrapped, they should be 
spread in the sun, or in an airy place to dry 
any moisture which they may have gotten from 
the steam of the boiling water. If the weather 
is not favourable for drying them out of doors, 
you may do it by spreading them on the wicker 
hurdles, where the worms were fed, at the 
same time opening the windows, that the air 
may have a free passage ; when thoroughly 
dried, they may be conveyed in baskets to send 
them to market, or deposited in a place protect- 
ed from dust, and filth of flies, or rats and mice, 
which will gnaw and destroy a great many for 
the sake of the chrysalis. 

Having thus brought your cocoons into such 
a state that you need not be anxious about any 
mischief happening to them, it is time to give 
some attention to those which were separated 
for breed, the method of managing which we 
shall now proceed to explain. 
12* 



CHAPTER VIII. 



OF THE CHANGES OF THE SILK WORM, THE 
COUPLING OF THE MOTH AND THE GATH- 
ERING AND PRESERVATION OF THE EGGS. 

Enclosed in the new habitation which nature 
has taught him to provide for himself, the silk 
worm undergoes various changes. His first 
metamorphosis is into a chafer or beetle, a kind 
of scarabssus, to which naturalists have given 
the Greek name of chrysalis, and in the plural 
number chrysalides. His next change is into 
a little white butterfly which we call the moth, 
and is sometimes called by silk culturists the 
milk?:, from its color. In this last shape, after 
a longer or a shorter time, he breaks through 
his silken prison, again breathes the external air, 
couples with his female and dies ; the female 
also dies soon after laying her eggs, which may 
be preserved for a long time without perishing, 
and at last being hatched by natural or artificial 
heat, the little animal comes out, not in the bril- 
liant form of its parents, but in their original 
shape of a silk worm, destined to go through the 
same labor and the same changes. This is one of 
the most wonderful works of the Almighty ; the 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 127 

same creature is successively a worm, a beetle, 
and a butterfly, in appearance different species 
and yet the same animated being. We shall 
not follow here the learned philosophers, who 
have attempted to explain these operations of 
the divine will, by chemical affinities and other 
scientific notions. This work is merely prac- 
tical, and we leave it to others to penetrate in- 
to secrets which we believe inaccessible to the 
limited powers of the human mind. 

Having thus briefly noticed the various chan- 
ges of the silk worm, we shall now follow the 
dear little butterflies through the short period 
of their lives, and show the manner in which 
they ought to be managed, and their valuable 
eggs gathered and preserved for reproduc- 
tion. 

There is nothing of greater importance in 
the management of silk worms than that of ob- 
taining a strong healthy breed, whether you re- 
gard the trouble which it will save you in feed- 
ing, or the advantage of their silk. Every 
method-therefore, which improves the breed is 
carefully to be attended to ; for when you have 
once got a good kind, you may easily keep it 
such, but if you let your worms degenerate and 
breed promiscuously, the weak with the strong, 
in a short time you will have none fit to raise 
a good breed from. 



128 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

We have already given directions how to 
make choice of such cocoons as are proper to 
breed from, the next thing you must expect to 
see is the coming forth of the moth. The time 
of its coming out is various, according to the 
warmth of the season and climate. If the co- 
coons selected to produce eggs are kept in a 
temperature of 66°, the moths begin to be 
hatched after fifteen days; if they are kept in 
a heat between 71 and 73° degrees they begin 
to come forth after eleven or twelve days. 

This law is for the most part general, though 
there are some exceptions ; it is however a sign 
that the moths are about to come forth when the 
cocoons are humid or wet at one end, which is 
that where the head of the moth is situated. 

The room in which the moths are produced 
should be dark, or at least there ought to be 
only sufficient light to enable one to distinguish 
objects. This is an important rule, and must 
be carefully attended to. 

The moths do not come forth in a great num- 
ber the 1st nor the 2d day ; they are hatched 
chiefly on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th days, 
according to the degree of heat of the place in 
which the cocoons are kept. 

The moths generally come out in the morn- 
ing, and cling with their feet to the outside 
of the cocoons. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 129 

When you choose the cocoons for breed, 
we advise putting the males and females on 
separate tables, because if they were on the 
same, they would begin to flutter about and 
couple as soon as they came out, and would 
hinder that regularity which you should observe 
in putting them together. You may chance 
indeed to mistake some males for females, and 
the contrary, while they are in the cocoons ; 
but this is of no consequence, for when the 
moths come out they are easily distinguished, 
the female having its body nearly double the 
size of that of the male, its color somewhat 
whiter, and horns not so black, nor so large 
as those of the male; besides the difference of 
shape, which in the body of the male is more 
slender and sharp at the end, you will observe 
him fluttering his wings with great quickness, 
and moving about with activity 5 whereas the 
female remains very quiet, and moves her wings 
very little. 

When the moths have had leisure to get rid 
of the Jiumid and earthy matters that load 
them, take them gently from off the cocoons 
and place them by pairs, a male and female 
together, on a piece of smooth woollen stuff, 
no matter how old or ordinary, about a couple 
of yards broad every way, or in proportion 
to your number of moths, and take care to 
darken the room. 



130 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

You may, in thus pairing them ? put the strong- 
est together, and you may quite reject those 
that are weak, or some way injured, by which 
means you will further meliorate the breed. 

Separation of the moths, and layi?ig of the Eggs. 
In what we have said above, we have sup- 
posed, when speaking of the coupling of the 
moths, that the number of males was equal to 
that of the females ; if that were the case, it 
would only be necessary at the time of their 
separation, to keep the females, and throw away 
the males ; that, however, is never the case, as 
there is alwaysan excess either of males or fe- 
males \ in the first instance, you must preserve 
the females in a spare box kept in darkness, 
and males which you have separated from their 
females, must be put to them ; in the second in- 
stance, if there are more males than females, the 
surplus must be thrown away. 

When the moths have remained thus coupled 
about six hours at most, you take them by 
the wings and the body, and separate them 
gently, which is easily done ; the males may 
be thrown away as of no further use, unless 
you happen to have a superfluity of females, in 
which case you may keep a few of the males, 
which remain most vigorous to pair with them, 
having had the precaution to have allowed 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 131 

them to remain with the females, the first time, 
five hours only instead of six. 

To preserve the males in a state of vigour 
till the moment of coupling comes, they must 
not be allowed to flutter with their wings, 
but be put in a small box. Before separat- 
ing the two sexes you must prepare, in a cool, 
dry, and airy chamber, the cloth on which the 
female is to deposit her eggs. Twenty-two 
square inches of cloth are sufficient to contain 
on its surface six or seven ounces of eggs. 

The reason for separating the males and fe- 
males, and not waiting till they uncouple of 
themselves, is because the vigor and the life of 
the females being now of short duration, they 
should have time to lay their eggs while they re- 
mainin strength, whereas, if you have left them 
to uncouple of themselves, they would frequently 
not do it in less Chan two days, especially in the 
more temperate climates. 

You should visit the moths at times, while 
they are paired, and should bring together those 
that wander out of the way, and those which 
uncouple too soon, that is to say, in an hour or 
two, that they may pair a. second time. 

Before the moths are unpaired, whether they 

do it of themselves, or by your means, you 

should have in readiness proper materials for 

, the females to lay their eggs on. The fittest 






132 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

things for this purpose as has been said before, 
are pieces of the smoothest sort of woollen stuff, 
this is better than paper or linen 5 for to these 
the eggs will stick so fast, that it will give you 
vast trouble to get them off, which cannot be 
done without bruising many of them. 

When every thing has been thus arranged, 
recollecting that the room should be dry, and 
all light excluded from it, except what is 
necessary to see what you are about ; the 
moths that have been paired six hours are to 
be gently separated, the females to be placed 
on the pieces of the described stuff, one after 
the other, beginning at the top, and going 
downwards. This operation must be continued 
without intermission, as long as you find females 
that have been paired during the necessary 
time. The time must be noted at which the 
moths are placed on the cloth to couple, taking 
care to keep those which are placed afterwards 
separate, to avoid confusion. 

As we have already said, the time when the 
greatest number of moths comes out, begins 
about six or seven o'clock in the morning. 
Consequently the coupling takes place about 
nine o'clock, and at three in the afternoon the 
males ought to be detached, and the females de- 
posited in the place above described, and left 
on the pieces of cloth thirty-six or forty hours, 
without being touched. 






SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 133 

By attending to the above directions, the 
three following qualities of eggs may be obtain- 
ed on separate pieces of cloth. 

1st. The eggs of the females that have 
coupled with virgin males. 

2d. The eggs of females that have coupled 
with males who had already coupled with other 
females. 

3d. Those of females, which after thirty-six 
or forty hours, continue to drop their eggs. 

On these smoothest pieces of woollen cloth, 
the moths will lay their eggs, but there is a 
great difference in the time employed in so 
doing ; and according to their strength and 
fecundity, the number of eggs is more or 
less. The eggs stick, to whatever the moth 
lays them on, by a natural gum with which they 
are smeared ; they are first of a pale yellow 
color, then greenish, afterwards they grow 
somewhat red, and in about twelve or fifteen 
days after being laid, they attain a blueish- 
grey color sooner or later, as the weather is 
favourable ; and of this color they always re- 
main, unless they afterwards happen to be da- 
maged by too much cold, heat, or moisture in 
keeping them. Those which do not get this 
blueish-grey color, but remain reddish or yel- 
low are either unimpregnated or imperfectly 
13 



134 SILK CULTURIST-'S MANUAL. 

so. therefore are good for nothing, as general- 
ly they do not produce worms. 

When the season, or the temperature of the 
room is too hot, that is to say, when it rise? 
to 78° or SO°j or when it is too cold, as for in- 
stance, 64° or 66° j you will find more or less of 
yellow unimpregnated eggs, or of a reddish 
color imperfectly impregnated, the tempera- 
ture of the room must therefore be kept be- 
tween these extremes. 

Whether the eggs be or be not impregnated. 
or only imperfectly so. they are always of a 
lenticular form. A little time after their pro- 
duction, there takes place, in the centre of both 
surfaces, a depression, which proves that a por- 
tion of the aqueous part of the egg has been dis- 
engaged, and that a kind of drying process has 
been effected. 

In twelve or fifteen days, according to the 
different degrees of temperature of the rooms, 
the eggs undergo almost all the gradations ol 
color mentioned above, and then possess the 
character of impregnated eggs. All these 
changes of color come from the fluid of the 
eggs, and not from the shell, which is almost 
transparent. — (Dandolo, chap, v.) 

When all these operations are finished, there 
is nothing else to attend to. except the pre- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL 135 

servation of the eggs. We conclude this sub- 
ject by observing that at this time, the im- 
pregnated female, which weighed about thirty 
grains, in three or four days after having de- 
posited its eggs, weighs only about twelve 
grains. When dead and dried up, its weight 
is only three grains and a half. 

Preservation of the Eggs. 

When the eggs have acquired the color pro- 
per to them in the perfect state, and the 
cloths are quite dry, it is time to think of the 
means of preserving them. From the pieces 
of cloth you can with great ease separate the 
eggs, in order to preserve them until they are 
to be hatched in the ensuing spring, or the 
cloths may be folded and placed on a net work 
and attached to the vault or ceiling of a cool 
and dry place. In this manner the cloths have 
air on all sides, the mice cannot get at the eggs, 
and they are well preserved. They must be 
inspected nearly every month in the winter, 
and every ten or fifteen days in warm weather. 
In all cases the eggs are to be placed in cool, 
and perfectly dry places, the temperature of 
which, should not much exceed 65°, nor de- 
scend below 32°; for moisture rots many of 
the eggs, and sometimes destroys entire broods ; 
on this account, therefore, those who let them 



136 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

be laid on paper or linen, and keep them so 
all the winter, will have many decayed ones, 
for paper and linen are both apt to attract 
moisture. Heat is to be avoided, because it 
might bring the eggs to hatch before their 
time; and great cold would be as hurtful to 
them as moisture. A bedchamber therefore, 
is a proper place to keep them in, but not near 
the fire ; and if the weather grows warm before 
the mulberry leaves open in the spring, they 
should be removed into a cooler place, to re- 
tard them until there is food for the worms. 
Observe also, that if the weather is cold or 
moist when the moths are put to couple or to 
lay their eggs, it should be done in a place with 
a fire in it, otherwise they will not lay so 
many nor so good. 

If you are afraid that it should freeze 
where the eggs are stored, a thermometer must 
be put there, or a little water in a bowl. If 
the water does not freeze, the cloths may be 
safely left there. If it is feared that the 
place is not dry, it may be ascertained by using 
a barometer, or by putting common salt in a 
dish. 






CHAPTER IX. 



REMARKS ON DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF 

SILK WORMS. 

As there exist several varieties of silk worms, 
and as the term of life of these various species is 
not the same, and their silk is of different value, 
it is necessary to explain those differences, and to 
examine the advantage or perhaps the loss that 
might arise from rearing any particular sort of 
silk worms, the result of which may be of some 
importance. 

To state this clearly, we shall speak, 

1st, Of the small silk worm of three casts, or 
moultings. 

2d, Of the large silk worm of four casts. 

3d, Of the common white silk worm of four 
casts. 

4th, Of the common yellowish silk worm of 
four casts. 

1st, Of the small silk worm of three casts. 

The eggs of this species weigh one-eleventh 
less than those of the common silk worm, for 
39,168 of the latter make an ounce, while 42,620 
of the former are required to make that weight; 



138 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

the silk worms and cocoons of this cast are two- 
fifths smaller than those of the common sort. 
Experience has shown that these worms con- 
sume, for each pound of cocoons, nearly as great 
a quantity of leaves as that eaten by the com- 
mon sort, and, although smaller when they have 
reached their highest growth, they devour 
more fragments of leaves, than the latter, so 
that in cultivating the common sort, we lose 
fewer leaves. 

The cocoons of the small silk worm furnish 
finer and more beautiful silk than the common 
cocoon, as 506 feet of the single thread or fibre 
of silk from worms of this species, weigh one 
grain, while 458 feet only of silk from a cocoon 
of a worm of four casts, make the same weight. 
It would appear, therefore, that in these silk 
worms the silk-drawing tubes are finer. The 
cocoons of this variety are better formed, and 
to this is owing the greater quantity of silk 
which, at equal weight, is drawn from these 
cocoons, in proportion to that afforded by the 
common cocoons. 

It is evident therefore, that what has been 
said, tends to show that this variety of the silk 
worm ought to be cultivated, because those who 
buy silk, knowing its superior quality, will give 
a higher price for it. Thus will trade be 
benefited, and the industry of the cultivator 






SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 139 

encouraged. Besides these advantages there 
are some others equally important. 

1st. These silk worms require four days less 
of care than the common silk worm. 

2d. Therefore, the mulberry trees may be 
stripped sooner; they shoot faster and resist 
the cold weather better. 

3d. They afford a saving in time, labor and 
money. 

4th. They are not so long exposed to acci- 
dents or contingencies, their life being shorter. 

Some imagine that as 600 cocoons of this 
species weigh a pound and a half, and 360 of 
the common cocoons make the same weight, 
they eat more than the latter, but experience 
shows this to be erroneous. 

The eggs of this species may be found in 
several parts of France, particularly in the 
south. 

2. Of the large silk worm of four casts. 

I reared, says Dandolo, many of these silk 
worms of a very large quality ; these eggs pro- 
duce larger worms and larger cocoons than the 
common species : they are only one-fiftieth more 
in weight ; 37,440 eggs weigh an ounce, whilst 
39,168 eggs of the common sort make the same 
weight. 

The worms proceeding from those eggs, 



140 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

weigh, when they have attained their utmost 
size, nearly twice and a half as much as the 
common worm. The cocoons are in the same 
proportion; 150 of the largest sort weigh a 
pound and a half, while it requires 360 of the 
common cocoon to weigh as much. 

The only advantage they may offer, is that 
18 J lb. of leaves will produce 1 \ lb. of cocoons, 
whilst 20| lb. of leaves are required, to produce 
If lb. of the common cocoon. But this advan- 
tage is greatly diminished because : 

1. The silk of these cocoons is coarser and 
not so pure ; this explains the reason why the 
worms consume fewer leaves ; 421 feet eight 
inches of the silk from the great cocoon, of 
large worms of four casts, weigh a grain, whilst 
we have seen that 506 feet of silk from worms 
of three casts weigh as much, and that it re- 
quires 458 feet of silk from a common cocoon 
of four casts, to give the same weight. 

2. These worms are five or six days later, 
in attaining their utmost growth, and in rising, 
than the common silk worm. 

3. The cultivator runs the chance of stripping 
the mulberry trees later, and injuring .them. 

4. The labourers must be kept on longer, 
which incurs expense. 

5. The insects are exposed to more danger 
and risk, as their life is longer. 



, . ) 

I 
SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 141 

Consequently, this variety and species does 
not suit climates and regions similar to those 
of the Eastern States ; but they may possibly 
answer better in warmer States, and in different 
circumstances. 

3. Of the common white Silk Worm of four 
casts. 

This species of silk worms may be reared 
with advantage ; they are in all respects equal 
to the common silk worms of four casts, but 
their silk is more valuable than the yellow silk. 
The whitest cocoons should be carefully selected 
for the production of eggs. 

The silk worms that spin white silk deserve 
the observation and attention of the cultivator. 
We would particularly recommend to those 
who rear silk worms for the purpose of reeling 
the silk themselves, to cultivate only the small 
silk worms of three casts, and the silk worms 
that spin white silk, as preferable to all others, 
and consequently to choose every year the very 
whitest and finest cocoons for eggs, to pre- 
vent the degeneration of the species. 

Of the common yellowish Silk Worm of four 
casts or moultings. 

This species, though not the best, is the most 
generally cultivated. Of this kind, however^ 



142 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

the best are those that form a pale straw-color- 
ed cocoon, which is preferable to the deep 
yellow. Although it requires 20 J lbs. of leaves 
of the mulberry tree to obtain a pound and 
a half of these cocoons, the cultivator prefers 
them, for the convenience of always having his 
own eggs, more from habit, than any thing 
else. 



CHAPTER X. 



OF THE DISEASES OF SILK WORMS. 

Without reckoning those accidents, already 
mentioned, hy which the eggs become decayed 
before they are put to hatch, the silk worm 
during the time of its formation in the egg, that 
is, during the time of hatching, is subject to 
accidents and mortality : these have been partly 
guarded against in the directions given for 
making the eggs hatch. 

The silk worm being a robust animal by na- 
ture, although its life lasts but a few days, it 
would appear impossible that there should have 
been written hundreds of works upon the sub- 
ject of its diseases. If we would explain why 
so much has been said upon this matter, we 
should find strong evidence that it is because 
the disorders have been looked upon as consti- 
tutional^ and that it has not been considered 
that most of them arose from the ill management 
in rearing they have undergone. 

This, however, is the real case, want of at- 
tention and sufficient care is the cause of most 
of those diseases on which so much has been 
said and written. If we only manage them 



144 SILK CULTURIsrs MANUAL. 

properly, and do not neglect them, we may be 
almost certain of never seeing them attacked by 
disease during the short time they require be- 
fore they attain the period when they pour out 
their silk. This precious produce, may be- 
come one of the most abundant sources of 
wealth to the United States. 

The directions we have given in the prece- 
ding pages should suffice to preserve the in- 
sects from almost all the disorders incident to 
them. This chapter, is particularly devoted to 
demonstrate the truth and usefulness of the 
system we recommend. We must here repeat, 
that whenever our rules are strictly observed, 
the worms will hardly ever, we would almost 
venture to say never, experience disease ; and 
thaton the contrary, whenever those are depart- 
ed from, they will be exposed to the attacks 
of those disorders we are going to describe. 

Too much precaution cannot be taken in or- 
der to prevent the ill consequence which may 
arise from an unskilful method of hatching eggs ; 
for moisture may hurt them as much as an im- 
proper degree of heat or cold. 

Some few worms are liable also to die in 
hatching by not readily getting out of the shell, 
which, as it is not fixed to any thing, is apt 
to be dragged after them in their efforts to get 
out, till growing tired they are not able to ex- 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 145 

tricate themselves 5 this however, happens to 
but a few, and those, perhaps, weak worms. 
But the method in which the eggs must be 
hatched makes this unavoidable, neither is it of 
great consequence. 

It is likely that eggs often are hurt by not 
being washed, for then many of them will re- 
main smeared over with that moist substance 
which the moths cast out a little before they 
lay their eggs, and this would stop their pores 
as has been said. It might be well to wash 
them as soon as they have got their grey color, 
before they are laid up. 

The diseases incident to silk worms after they 
are hatched, proceed generally, either from 
their food or the temperature of the air in 
which they live. An error may be made either 
in the quantity or the quality of their food. 
We have formerly mentioned the manner of 
regulating the quantity to be used; to avoid 
giving them too much, it will be a good and 
sure rule if after they have eaten all their 
leaves, they are left without any food for ten or 
twenty minutes. But if by any accident they 
have fasted too long, it is safest to give them 
sparingly and often for sometime after, and then 
of the wholesomest and best leaves. And if 
they are surfeited by over- eating, let them fast 
14 



146 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

a longer time, and afterwards feed them also 
sparingly. 

Silk worms are much more liable to suffer 
from the bad quality of leaves, than the quantity. 
The leaves of trees which grow in moist 
grounds, or in places shaded from the sun, are 
unwholesome ; and those which grow on 
suckers produced from the trunk, or root, 
being full of sap and moisture, crude and imma- 
ture, will produce a most dangerous and fatal 
disease in silk worms : even by only giving 
them one feeding, they grow immediately sur- 
feited, and throw out of their mouths a green- 
ish liquor, and a clear humour out of the pores 
of their skin, particularly out of the little point 
which grows near their tail. This viscous 
moisture by their rubbing against one another 
closes up the vents by which they breathe, 
which are those black specks that appear down 
each side; and they seldom recover from this 
disorder, so as to make cocoons worth any thing. 
It is therefore much better to avoid this dis- 
ease than to attempt curing it ; however, as all 
may not be alike infected, pick out those which 
are in the worst conditions, and if you have a 
mind to make experiments on them you may. 
Then make the hurdles of those that remain, 
clean and dry, and letting them fast two or 
three hours, give them afterwards some of the 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 147 

best leaves you can select, but few at a time, 
and gathered a good while before. The mois- 
tened leaves, would also be hurtful. 

Mulberry trees may also have peculiar dis- 
eases in themselves, which may make their 
leaves unwholesome for silk worms, but this 
will be best discerned in the growth of the tree 
and of its leaves, and the diseases incident to 
the silk worms, more easily avoided by not using 
them. Air is the next thing to be considered, 
and a number of cases have shown how air af- 
fects animals, and how, by a variety of incom- 
parable contrivances, it may best be turned 
and tempered to the use of life. 

Silk worms are more liable to be affected by 
the air, which is perpetually necessary to 
animals, than by any other circumstance of their 
lives ; sudden changes from heat to cold, and 
from cold to heat, are very prejudicial to them, 
and such climates as are much subject to such 
variations, dangerous to them. These changes, 
however, can be tempered by art and contri- 
vances, because silk worms are kept within 
doors ; but putrified air occasioned by the 
worms being either kept too close, or not having 
their hurdles cleaned, is apt to destroy great 
numbers ; yet the cause of such distemper is 
easily seen ; for the abundance of their litter, 
and the smell which it spreads over the room 



148 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

are sufficient indications that the hurdles want 
cleaning, and that the room wants a supply of 
more wholesome air. Indeed, very little con- 
trivance would keep the room constantly 
supplied with fresh air, which being a thing of 
the utmost importance, we shall here mention 
an easy method of effecting it, founded upon 
that remarkable property of the air, that when 
purest, it is always most heavy ; and when 
mixed with vapour, either putrid, aromatic, 
or watery, or indeed with almost any thing that 
affects the sense of smelling, it is lighest. 

Now, in any room where silk worms are fed, 
if an aperture, about nine inches square, be 
made in that angle of the ceiling which is far- 
thest from the door, then will the putrid 
vapours, occasioned by the litter and the mul- 
titude of worms, constantly ascend through 
this aperture, and the pure air will succeed by 
the door in its place ; or rather, if an aperture 
is made towards the bottom of the door, of 
the same size with that in the ceiling with a 
small shutter to open and close as occasion may 
require; then will the fresh air come into the 
room with greater advantage, by raising up, 
and carrying off the foul air above it. 

It would be better if several of these aper- 
tures were made in the opposite walls of a 
room, near to the floor and in the ceiling open- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 149 

ing into the external air, they would have this 
convenience, that you can take the advantage 
of opening the apertures, which are on the 
windward side, when the room wants to be 
suddenly and thoroughly cleared of the foul 
air. 

Thus, if the proper cleaning of the worms, 
and the due admission of fresh air be practised, 
the diseases arising from dirt and putrefaction 
will be prevented, so far as they arise from the 
manner in which people are obliged to keep 
silk worms in houses : and, unless such cleanli- 
ness and airing of the rooms be observed, there 
will be always complaints, (as there are at pre- 
sent, in the countries which breed silk worms,) 
of an unaccountable mortality amongst the 
worms of some persons, while those of others re- 
main healthy. But the smell of the room will 
give warning of the danger, and point out the 
best cure, which is prevention. 

It is true, indeed, that diseases of the same 
kind may arise from some peculiar putrified 
state, or malignancy in the atmosphere, as in hot 
and moist summers, or in places abounding with 
mineral exhalations. But then the disease will 
appear more universal, and will more or less 
affect all the silk worms in adjacent places ; in 
this case, often clearing the litter away will con- 
tribute to preserve the worms, as also not keep- 
14* 



150 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

ing them too much thronged and crowded to- 
gether. The malignancy of the air may be 
purified in the following manner. 

Of all the methods employed for purifying 
the internal air of the room, and of neutralizing 
and destroying, in some degree its deleterious 
qualities, the following is the surest and the 
cheapest. 

Take six ounces of common salt, mix it well 

with three ounces of powder of black oxide of 

manganese ; put this mixture in a strong bottle, 

with two ounces of water, cork it well with a 

common cork. Keep this bottle in any part of 

the room farthest from the stove or fire place. 

In a vial, put a pound and a half of sulphuric 

acid, (oil of vitriol) and keep this vial near 

the other bottle, with a small cordial glass, and 

an iron spoon ; this is the manner of using it: 

Put into the small liquor glass, two thirds of a 

spoonful of oil of vitrol, pour it into the large 

bottle, and there will issue a white vapour. 

The bottle should be moved about through the 

room, holding it high up, that the vapour may 

be well spread in the air. 

When the vapour ceases the bottle may be 
corked, and replaced ; even should there be no 
perceptible difference between the interior and 
exterior air, during the fifth age of the worms 
it is good to repeat this fumigation, three or 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 151 

four times a day, in the manner just explained. 
When repeating the fumigation, the quantity 
of oil of vitriol poured into the large bottle 
may be diminished. The bottle may be left 
open an hour or two in the last days of the fifth 
age of the worms, and placed here and there 
in the laboratory, and even on the corners of 
the wicker hurdles, to diffuse the vapour tho- 
roughly. 

This easy method may be employed when- 
ever on going into the laboratory the air appears 
to have unpleasant effluvia, and there is any 
closeness or difficulty of breathing; it is more 
powerful than all the perfumes commonly used, 
and produces five advantages in the laboratory. 

1st. The vapour, in spreading immediately, 
destroys all unpleasant effluvia. 

2d. It diminishes the fermentation of the 
litter, and dries it up. 

3d. It neutralizes the effect of all the mias- 
mata, and deleterious emanations that might af- 
fect the health of the silk worms. 

4th. It revives the silk worms, gently stimu- 
lating them, because it is composed in a great 
measure, of pure vital air. 

5th. This vapour is not alone favourable to 
the health of silk worms, but has some effect 
on the goodness of the cocoon. 

Care should be taken not to drop any of the 



152 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

vitriol either on the skin or the clothes, as 
it burns, and to hold the bottle above the height 
of the eyes and nose, when it is open, because 
the vapour is very searching, and would be 
dangerous and unpleasant. — (Dandolo, chap. 7.) 

If you cannot get manganese, nor procure it 
well pounded, then put ten ounces of nitrate of 
potash, (common nitre of the shops,) into a bot- 
tle, instead of the common salt and manganese, 
used in the former composition, and follow 
up the other parts of the recipe. The nitre 
should be quite damp, and a smaller quantity of 
the vitriol than has been indicated may be pour- 
ed into the bottle to make the fumigation. 

The gas proceeding from this last composi- 
tion, is very similar to the other; it is less 
subtile, and not so dangerous. It is composed 
of vital air and nitrous vapour ; it quickly de- 
stroys all animal exhalations which may exist in 
the atmospheric air. 

When silk worms become sick and languish 
by a continuance of moist weather, it is difficult 
to relieve them, it being as yet a desideratum 
amongst inventions, to supply quantities of dry 
air from a moist atmosphere. Fires may indeed 
warm the air, and so hinder the bad effect of 
its dampness ; but still the air which is constant- 
ly drawn into a room where there is a fire must 
be supplied by the atmosphere, and thus bring 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 153 

its moisture along with it. It is best in this 
case to admit no more external air than is ne- 
cessary to keep that within fresh. It may also 
be of use before you feed the worms, to scatter 
over them some very dry straw or hay, so thin 
that they can pass through it, and upon this to 
strew their leaves, this may imbibe part of the 
moisture which is in their litter, or on the sur- 
face of their bodies, and at least it will keep 
them from lying upon their litter when there 
is a good deal on the hurdles, and you have not 
leisure to cleanse them immediately. 

Silk worms sometimes die during their spin- 
ning, or after they have finished their cocoons, 
before they change into chrysalides. The pro- 
per regulation of heat, cold and fresh air in this 
case, is all that is in your power by way of pre- 
vention, and this has been mentioned in its pro- 
per place. When the worm dies before it has 
finished its cocoon, it never rattles in it, upon 
shaking the cocoon ; therefore such cocoons 
must never be chosen for breed. 

Such^diseases of the moths as are within 
your reach, are only languor in coupling, or 
in laying their eggs, occasioned by the coldness 
or moisture of the weather, which indicate 
warmth and a dry place as the proper cure. 

Thus a great number of diseases will never 
appear, 



154 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

1st. If the silk worms are kept thinly spread 
on the wickers, that they may breathe and per- 
spire freely. 

2d. If the interior air of the room is constant- 
ly and evenly maintained at the temperature we 
have recommended. 

3d. When the air is never allowed to stagnate 
in the room, and it is kept in a gentle, slow 
motion. 

4th. By constantly burning blazes when the 
exterior air is damp and stagnant, and the inte- 
rior evaporation superabundant. 

5th. When the room is kept light; light 
being the most powerful excitement to living 
nature. 

6th. By never having the litter liable to fer- 
mentation longer on the wickers than has been 
prescribed. 

7th. By being careful never to distribute 
leaves that have not been thoroughly dried. 

8th. By using the fumigating bottle when 
needful, the vapor of which destroys the most 
noxious animal emanations. 

These things will be sufficient to prevent the 
occurrence of any of those diseases. 



CHAPTER XI. 



OF COCOONERIES. 

As it may happen that some persons will be 
disposed to pursue the silk culture upon a large 
scale, we will give, hereafter, the description 
of a building on the model of Count Dandolo. 
But, as we have already said, we mean princi- 
pally, to speak of the popular pursuit of it, as 
the incidental occupation of females of all ages, 
of children, and of old and poor people; and 
which, nevertheless, produces great results, as 
well in regard to the number of worms in- 
tended to be reared, as to the raw silk to be 
produced. 

This popular pursuit requires no special 
buildings or establishment, which never fail to 
be expensive. We speak of the culture of silk 
as an incidental occupation, which can be fol- 
lowed jm any convenient rooms; and we have 
raised many thousands of excellent cocoons in 
an upper room in the city of Philadelphia. 

The rooms ought to be dry, and sheltered 
from the extremes of cold and heat; as the 
worms dislike dark rooms, they ought to be suf- 
ficiently lofty and light. The temperature of 



156 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

the climate is therefore to be regarded, so as in 
hot climates to avoid violent heats, and in tem- 
perate ones severe colds, and dampness in all. 
The windows of the rooms in which the worms 
are kept should be left open, when the weather 
is fine, (but never when it is windy or when it 
rains,) so that the air may freely circulate, in 
order to refresh and clear the place of bad air 
or smell. These windows, provided they shut 
close, may be made either of thin canvass, 
which is best in warm climates, or of glass, 
oiled paper, transparent membranes, or any 
other material which will exclude the cold and 
admit light. No bad smells, such as those of 
smoke, sewers, or the like, should approach 
their habitation. Air holes, of twelve inches 
square, with moveable slides, will be very ser- 
viceable, and they ought to be made near the 
ceilings, or under the windows, or at the door, 
near the floor. The exterior air penetrates 
through the lower holes, and carries off through 
the upper opening, the air which before filled 
the rooms ; the number of these holes must be 
proportioned to the size of the rooms. Expe- 
rience shows that this is the best means of ren- 
ovating the air of an enclosed place ; and in or- 
der to keep it in general as pure as possible, 
there ought not to be too many worms in a sin- 
gle room ; their perspiration being very great, 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 157 

and consequently, the medium in which they 
live, is soon affected by this cause. 

While silk worms are very young, they take 
up but very little room, and during the first 
week . at least, may be kept in shallow broad 
drawers, boxes and such like, and that in great 
number; for a foot square may contain above 
five thousand of those newly hatched, but as 
they grow larger, so must also the space that 
contains them. Those therefore who have large 
nurseries of silk worms, should provide a place 
large enough to hold them when at their full 
size ; a foot square will not contain above 
one hundred worms conveniently, when they 
are full grown. 

With the foregoing conditions, it is no mat- 
ter what sort of buildings the silk worms are 
kept in ; the barns and other out houses of 
farmers may be used for this purpose ; or in hot 
countries, occasional sheds may be made, which, 
in such climates as some of the southern states 
enjoy, will sufficiently answer the end ; for the 
reader must here take notice, that several cir- 
cumstances which have been mentioned in the 
course of these instructions, are rather conve- 
niences for those that would do things in the 
neatest manner, than absolutely necessary, and 
that many of the precautions against cold and 
wet, will be useless in some climates. Those 
15 



158 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

circumstances which are absolutely necessary 
to be observed, the practitioner will, from his 
own experience, soon distinguish from those 
which are not so material, or which the nature 
and conveniences of the country determine 
him to make choice of ; and the course of his 
practice will also make him supply what may 
happen to have been forgotten amongst a num- 
ber of minute and various details. 



CHAPTER XII 



EXTRACT FROM THE WORK OF COUNT 

DANDOLO, ON THE SUBJECT OF 

THE PRECEDING CHAPTER. 

"- It is difficult to imagine how, in the lapse 
of some centuries, the practice of the useful 
and precious art of rearing silk worms should 
have remained in the hands of the ignorant and 
illiterate. 

" While it is evident that the abundance and 
certainty of the annual produce of the cocoons 
rests entirely upon the perfect cultivation of 
the silk worm during the various periods of its 
existence, and as it is generally known that 
these insects are not natives of our climate, and 
only exist by the care bestowed on them in 
their domestic state, it can scarcely be credited 
that there should not yet be a code of sure rules 
to form habitations suited to their wants, and 
favorable to their progress, and that silk worms 
are to be exposed to every circumstance most 
injurious to their health and well being. 

"It seems never to have been imagined that 
four or five ounces of eggs would produce 
150,000, or even 200,000 silk worms, that would 



160 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

all require room to breathe freely the pure air ? 
and to secrete the substances necessary to life. 

"A building wisely constructed, upon the fix- 
ed principles of art/ where the air may circu- 
late at all times, and in all cases, and preserve 
its dryness, would alone powerfully contribute 
to the constant prosperity of the animal, and, in 
course of time, to the abundant production of 
cocoons of the finest quality. 

"When the habitation of the silk worm has 
been well prepared, an unspeakable advantage 
has been obtained, and all will probably advance 
favorably. 

" As we must suppose that many proprietors 
will have laboratories constructed, so as to in- 
sure an abundance of cocoons, I will here give 
a short detail of the construction of a laboratory,, 
and point out a few indispensable alterations and 
reforms that may be made in the laboratories of 
tenants and cultivators, which are already built; 
and these reforms are infinitely to the advan- 
tage of the proprietors and cultivators. 

"In speaking of these two classes of labora- 
tories, I must also mention one of the most neces- 
sary appendages to such establishments, the 
places required for preserving the mulberry 
leaves fresh and good during two or three days, 
by which means the loss which might occur from 
being obliged to feed the worms upon wet> 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 161 

withered, or fermented leaves, will be entirely 
avoided. 

"If the construction of the building which 
is to be occupied by the silk worms during 
their lives is of importance, it may not be use- 
less to give a description of the utensils and 
tools most likely to facilitate all necessary ope- 
rations which are to be executed. 

"We shall, therefore, in this chapter, speak: 

1st. Of the laboratory of the proprietor. 

2d. Of the laboratory of the cultivator, or 
tenant. 

3d. Of the proper place for the preservatioa 
of the leaves. 

4th. Of the utensils. 

1st Of the laboratory of the proprietor.. . 

"It is a certain fact, that men scarcely ever 
employ capital excepting in the manner most 
likely to bring in rent, or interest in money, 
pointed out by habit and local circumstances, 
with the further exception of the expenses of 
luxury, <&c. 

"For instance, if a proprietor purchase fif- 
teen or twenty acres of land, which cost him 
three or four thousand francs, ($600, or 800,) 
it is with the view of drawing one hundred and 
fifty or two hundred francs from it, ($30 or 40.) 

Admitting this position, it is clearly evident, 
15* 



162 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

that if we can prove to the proprietor that m 
employing capital to the amount of three thou- 
sand francs In constructing a laboratory of silk 
worms, he would derive more than five per 
centum, we cannot doubt that he would endea- 
vor to do so. 

"To be able to say with assurance, that it 
is profitable to construct a laboratory for silk 
worms, I shall make only one observation, which 
is, that to draw 150 francs from 3000 francs 
capital employed in erecting a laboratory, it 
would be sufficient, that the proprietor receiv- 
ed 90 pounds of cocoons more than he annually 
obtains in the common manner of managing silk 
worms. 

"Are there not, besides, many proprietors, 
who might arrange, with very trifling expense, 
such places as garrets, warehouses, &c, so as 
to be on a good plan for the rearing of silk 
worms? 

"Can any liberal proprietor, who has in- 
formed himself upon the improvements I have 
suggested in the art of rearing silk worms, state 
whether he does not think that from ten ounces 
of good, well-preserved eggs we may easily 
draw 150 and even 300 pounds of cocoons be- 
yond what may be procured in the bad and or- 
dinary manner of managing silk worms? 

" This interest, derived from such an amount 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 16$ 

of capital, is still very trifling, when compared 
with the other manifold advantages which the 
proprietor will derive from the erection of a la- 
boratory. To be convinced of this, it is neces- 
sary to observe : 

"1st. That the erection of laboratories tends 
to increase the value of the lands in which they 
are erected, and from which the leaves are pro- 
cured, because they afford a greater produce in 
cocoons, as land which, when well worked 
and dressed, gives eight for one, is more valu- 
able than land which will only yield six. 

"2d. That in uniting in the same establish- 
ment all the operations relating to silk worms, 
there is a vast saving in leaves, in fuel, and in 
labor. 

"3d. That the common cultivators very soon 
get into the proper manner of managing a la- 
boratory, when they see the favorable results 
produced by the prescribed rules, and because 
they find themselves compelled to act in obedi- 
ence to the directions of the enlightened per- 
sons at the head of the establishment. 

"4th That as some of the inequalities in the 
advantages obtained among the common cultiva- 
tors disappear sooner than others, they will 
soon adopt the same means that are invariably 
secure. 

"5th. That the proprietor and cultivator as- 



164 SILK CULTUPJSrS MANUAL. 

surecl of success, will not neglect the culture 
of the mulberry tree, nor destroy them, as is 
often done in those parts where the proprietor- 
strips his trees to sell the leaf, in the persuasion 
that this is more profitable than employing it 
himself. 

••6. In short, that the space allotted to the 
worms is sooner clear and free of them, and may 
be made use of for other domestic uses. 

••What I have said here will demonstrate the 
profit resulting from proprietors erecting large 
laboratories. 

t; My laboratory is constructed on principles 
which I shall describe, and can contain the pro- 
duce of twenty ounces of eggs of silk worms, 
that is to say. might yield 20 cwt. of cocoons. 
It is about 30 feet wide. 77 feet long, about 
12 feet high, and, to the top of the roof. 21 
feet. Six rows of tables, or wicker trays, of 
about two feet six inches in width, rnay be 
placed in the breadth of the room, two and 
two. leaving four passages or avenues between 
these three rows, two next the two side walls. 
and two between the wickers. These pass- 
ages are useful in giving free access to the wick- 
ers, and for placing the steps in feeding the 
worms. 

•'•There should be posts driven in between 
the wicker trays, which, as I said before, form 



nil c :i:vrist j s manual. ; _ § 

aMairdrae. On these pastes 3 be fastei ed 

Jitt' e - of wood, horizontally placed, w:. c b 
■tpport the wicker hurt.'-:-. : there is, betweea 
the v eker hurdle : space of about :'. •■ ~ 

inches and a half, to allow the air to pass 

of tr. e [rich form a line at equal 

- : : : . .ratory. 
"There tre : i the 1; uilding thirte e d . - t- ^zec 
tetian shutters outside, and 
i paper window-frames inside ; under each 

-'in:-' :.:-.: v.- t ;;:.-• -:.:..:::: .. :: -.^:'^ 
ij::t:rr: :: i t; .: V: ir.ttes. ■-■;.:;:. ::iy :t 

enable you, at will, to make the air circulate, 
which, entering and issuing, will blow over the 

v. i ; '. t f ;•: r . 

hen the air of the windows is not wanted, 

.■-.--.-. v . -\- ^eie- 
titt e: .::--•. r.ay :t ipene: ::».:::. *tt',rd::.£ 
W;^.t W-. \.' :. r.:!!, <;.d 
;---: --■.-■: ::-'-.:. ^rcttr:;: i:^ 

ie~:> ec:~l. :'. t:.t ■•:-:;- ::cie: :::; i* 
tptitc. '.it tr.t ".*eie:LcL '. r.ttr-; ~to: te 

■•I : :::- eik".: ver_vLlit:r* ;i v- : !:.ie* : :. :'.e 

f :•:: l:: :: ::.<: c>: - _ :.'.tt>i p~rt.etd:t-« 
t ettt :::-: :t ::.t tci:rt ::' tie 
:t:~ ::' :: - :kt: i_r-d;e- Tiest 



166 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

ventilators had sliding pannels? made of thick 
glass, to close them and admit light from above, 
and may also on some occasions be covered 
with white linen ; they may be opened or 
closed, according to circumstances. 

" As the air of the floor ventilators ascends? 
and that of the ceiling ventilators descends? ac- 
cording to the variations of temperature, it must 
necessarily pass through the three rows of 
wicker trays. 

" I have also had six ventilators made in the 
floor? besides those under the windows, to com- 
municate with the rooms beneath. 

"All these ventilators should open easily 
when wanted? as they can alone maintain a 
constant renewal of the exterior air? without the 
necessity of ever opening the paper window 
frames? which are within the Venetian shutters. 

"I here use thirteen windows? three of 
which are placed at one end of the laboratory? 
while at the opposite end there are three doors 
constructed so as to admit more or less air as may 
be required. By these doors we are admitted 
into another hall about thirty-six feet long? and 
thirty feet wide? which forms a continuation of 
the large laboratory? and which also contains 
wicker tray stands sufficiently raised above the 
floor to facilitate the necessary care of the 
worms in the laboratory. There are in this 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL 167 

hall six windows, and six ventilators under the 
windows, nearly on a level with the floor, as 
well as four ventilators in the ceiling. There 
are six fire-places in the great laboratory, 
one in each angle, and one on each side of the 
centre. 

" I had a large round stove of about three 
feet eight inches in diameter, and nine feet two 
inches high, placed in the middle of the labo- 
ratory; it divides the large row of the wicker 
hurdle stands. 

9 1 use small glass oil burners or lamps that 
yield no smoke, to light the laboratory in the 
night. 

"The floor of the laboratory is the only one 
that is covered with Italian cement (ghiarone,) 
or stucco ; that in the hall is made of bricks, 
that in case of necessity the leaves may be 
dried on it when they are wet with rain, and 
the eggs after they have been washed in the 
first process. 

" Between the hall and the great laboratory, 
there is a small room having two large doors ; 
the one communicating with the great labo- 
ratory, the other with the hall. In the centre 
of the floor there is a large square opening, 
which communicates with the lower part of the 
building. This is closed with a wooden fold- 
ing door, which may be removed at pleasure ; 



168 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

this aperture is used for throwing down the 
litter and rubbish of the laboratory, and is also 
useful for admitting the leaves of the mulberry 
which can easily be drawn up with a hand 
pulley ; this same aperture keeps up the circu- 
lation of air, when the three window frames at 
the end of the laboratory are open. 

u Such is the construction of my great la- 
boratory, in which I place the silk worms after 
the fourth casting or moulting. 

"It is impossible that the air should remain 
stagnant in it, or that it should ever be damp ; 
as this building stands alone, the ventilators 
must by their different exposure keep the air 
in the utmost equilibrium, and maintain a mild 
temperature. Should it, notwithstanding all 
this, have a tendency to stagnation, the air may 
be instantly put in motion by establishing great 
currents and burning blazing light fires in the 
six fire-places ; when fires are not needed, 
nor the chimneys wanted as ventilators, they 
may be closed with chimney-boards. 

"Should there be too much draught, the 
sliding panels on the ventilators that are un- 
der the windows, may be closed, so as to 
regulate the air as it is required. The same is 
applicable to the ceiling ventilators, with this 
advantage, that having a glazed window panel 
they may be closed and yet give light. 



BILK DULTUBIST'g MANUAL. 109 

u The stove is only used when the air of the 
laboratory wants warming, and the temperature 
raising ; in whieh case, when the stove warms 
the laboratory, a column of external air enters 
continually into a portion of the stove, which is 
separated from the part in which the fires 
burn, and from that through which the smoke 
issues 5 in this receptacle, when the air is 
heated, it escapes, through holes perforated 
on purpose, into the laboratory, and augments 
both the quantity of heat and fresh air. 

" In different parts of the laboratory I have 
placed four barometers, six thermometers, 
and two thermometrofjraphs, to show what is to 
be done in case of any accumulation of moisture, 
and of augmentation or diminution of tempera- 
ture in the laboratory." 

2. Of the Laboratory of cultivators. 

In speaking of the establishments of the 
tenants, Count Dandolo gives the following dis- 
tressing picture : 

u la general the rooms appropriated to rear- 
ing silk worms among the tenants, farmers, and 
common cultivators, have the appearance of 
catacombs; I say in general, for there are some 
few who, although they may not have all the 
requisites for rearing worms in perfection, yet 
16 



170 SILK CULTURIS'TS MANUAL, 

have sufficient care to preserve them from any 
very severe disease. 

U I have found, on entering the rooms in 
which these insects were reared, that they 
were damp, ill lighted by lamps fed with 
rancid oil, the air corrupt and stagnant to a 
degree that impeded respiration ; disagreeable 
effluvia, disguised with aromatics ; the wickers 
too close together, covered with fermenting 
litter upon which the silk worms were pining. 
The air was never renewed except by the 
breaches which time had worn in the doors 
and windows. ' ? 

3. Of the proper place to keep the leaves of the 
Mulberry tree fresh and good. 

It is certain that in this conntry writers ge- 
nerally have not sufficiently calculated the 
advantage and damage, which may arise from 
the leaf of the mulberry, by its proper preser- 
vation or neglect, previous to the distribution 
of it to the worms. Let us hear the Count 
Eandolo on that important subject. 

"The leaves of the mulberry trees, should 
be laid on the ground floor, or in cellars, 
slightly damp, and which may be closed, so as 
only to admit light sufficient to see where to 
put it, to stir it about, sort, and pick it tho- 
roughly. These circumstances are indispen- 
sable : 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 171 

" 1st. Because the lower rooms are always 
cooler than the upper floors. 

"2d. Because in damp places the leaf is not 
exposed to evaporation, which alters and 
withers it. I have kept it three days in such 
places as I have described : it diminished but 
little in weight and was not faded. When it 
is still very succulent, it should be laid in lay- 
ers of two or three inches, that it may not alter 
or ferment. When quite ripe it will keep 
several days, although the layers be above a 
foot deep, provided it has been gathered when 
thoroughly dry. It should, however, be care- 
fully moved and stirred about every day, that 
it may receive the contact of the air, and not 
get pressed down. 

"If in the place allotted for placing the 
worms, the air ought to be invariably dry, in 
that destined to keep the leaves, it should be 
cool, damp, and still. It would be a perceptible 
loss if the air robbed the leaf of its natural 
moisture ; not so much because it would 
wither it, as that I consider that natural mois- 
ture as a necessary vehicle for the various 
separations and secretions required for the 
health of the silk worms, and for the perfect 
deposition of the silk in the reservoirs. Be- 
sides, nature has bestowed much less liquid or 
watery substance on the mulberry leaf when 
ripe, than on any other leaf of any tree. 



172 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

(i If the allotted space for the preservation 
of the leaf is very damp, it will not alter it, 
provided it be cool and well closed ; it is 
heat and accumulation that spoil the leaf. It 
should be so managed that these places should be 
under or very near the laboratories; there 
will be found a great advantage in having a 
good provision of leaves at hand, particularly 
at the voracious period, called in France (la 
grande freze ou brife,) in the fifth age of the 
worm ; and this advantage will be felt still more, 
should there occur any continued rains at that 
season." 

4. Of the utensils required in the art of rear- 
ing Silk Worms. 

"To execute the various operations which 
form this art, better and with the least possible 
expense, ought to be the principal object 
whicli those who practise that art should aim at; 
upon this principle I have thought it might not 
be without usefulness, to give the names of a 
small collection of utensils which are not ex- 
pensive, and yet are indispensable in the execu- 
tion of the operations which the cultivation of 
silk worms requires. 

" This art, has hitherto had no appropriate 
utensils; each employed whatever came under 
the hand indifferently. I here give an explana- 
tion of these utensils. 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 173 

Utensils. 

" The Scraper. — A sort of long blunt knife. 
It is used to detach, or scrape the eggs from 
the wet cloths by introducing it between the 
eggs and the cloth, aslant ; 

" The Thermometer. — It is used to fix the 
temperature requisite for hatching and rear- 
ing silk worms. 

u The Stove. — It is intended to warm the la- 
boratory. It heats much better when con- 
structed on the principle of receiving external 
air, heating it, and then dispersing it in the 
laboratory. The rarefied air when it comes 
in hot, is a purifier, as it expels the interior 
air. The heating the rooms by furnace would 
be preferable we think, as it would be more 
easily regulated — besides the apertures through 
which the rarefied air passes, may be used as 
ventilators, to admit cold air, when there is no 
fire in the furnace. 

" Small boxes or trays for hatching the eggs 
of the Silk Worms. — There should be some of 
all sizes, that each ounce of eggs may have a 
space of seven inches and four lines square. 
If small they should be made of thick paste- 
board; and if large, and intended to hold ten 
or eleven ounces of eggs, of thin board. They 
should be numbered with very visible figures 
marked on the sides. 

*16 



174 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

" Hurdles or trays, or table-stands. — They are 
used covered with paper — those made with 
cane, branches, wicker, wood, or basket work, 
so that it be not close, but so interweaved as to 
admit of the air being in contact with the paper 
underneath, which keeps it dry, are preferable : 
their breadth should be from twenty-nine to 
thirty-seven inches, their length from eighteen 
to twenty-four feet, and they should be of 
equal sizes, that when put above one another, 
they may not interfere, or extend out, so as to 
be inconvenient. 

" Spoon. — It is made of wood, so as to stir the 
eggs with care when hatching them. 

" Hook. — Small instrument made of bent iron, 
is very useful to take up neatly and quickly 
the small twigs covered with silk worms from 
the boxes, to put them on the hurdles covered 
with sheets of paper. 

Knife. — Constructed so as to cut the leaf 
easily and small ; when the leaf is cut with the 
knife, it should be chopped fine, to multiply 
the particles and edges of the leaf. This is 
only requisite in the first and second age. 

Large Chopper. — Is made something like 
straw-cutter; it is useful in chopping the leaf 
coarsely, and in great quantity. It is used for 
the three first days after the third moulting. 

Barometer. — This instrument is used to 
measure the humidity of the air in the labora- 
tory." 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 175 

We agree with Count Dandolo; we cannot 
sufficiently urge the use of this instrument to 
those who rear silk worms, which indicates with 
so much ease one of the most powerful enemies 
of the silk worm in the laboratory. It would 
be desirable to have two of them placed within 
a certain distance from each other, to ascertain 
the various degrees of moisture, in different 
parts of the laboratory. We have omitted, in 
the above extract, several of the instruments 
which the Count recommends — we have men- 
tioned only those which we think most neces- 
sary. 

The above descriptions of a large laboratory, 
will be valuable to those who may hereafter 
engage in the business upon an extensive scale. 
It is easy to perceive that the great objects 
aimed at are convenience, the preservation of a 
proper temperature, and the free circulation 
of air in the laboratory. The American farmer 
must consider these as cardinal points, what- 
ever may be the dimensions of the building or 
apartment in which the worms are reared. 

We repeat it; all buildings are good for 
rearing silk worms provided there be, in pro- 
portion to their size, one or more fire-places, 
two or more ventilators in the ceiling, and on a 
level with the floor, and one or several win- 
dows or apertures, by which light may be ad- 
mitted, and sunshine excluded ; whichever of 



176 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

these methods may be adopted, the rearing 
of silk worms will be surely practicable ; and 
by the aid of the barometer and thermometer, 
it will be easy to neutralize or destroy the in- 
fluence of cold, heat, wind, stagnant air, a damp 
and corrupt atmosphere, and the fermentation 
of the litter even may be prevented or arrested. 



CHAPTER XIII 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 

Before we pass to the reeling of silk 
from the cocoons, which will constitute the 
third part of this treatise — we think proper to 
give here some general view and application of 
the facts stated in this work, which are im- 
mediately connected with the art of rearing 
silk worms. 

When an art may become so eminently allied 
to individual and national prosperity, an author 
should spare no trouble or labor in order to 
make the knowledge and practice of every 
branch of the art clear, plain, and familiar; be- 
sides that the facts, when presented together, 
will make a deeper impression upon the mind, 
than when they are offered singly. If some of 
our readers think that many of the things which 
we are going to state are useless, because they 
offer no pecuniary results for individual interest, 
we will answer, that when they reflect upon 
them they will find that they have more or less 
connection with those very results which are the 



ITS SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

first aim that the cultivator of silk worms pro- 
poses to attain — a pecuniary reward. 

In Italy, according to Count Dandoloj it re- 
quires; 37,440 eggs of the largest brood of 
silk worms o( four oasts or moult ings, to make 
an ounce, and if all these eggs produced worms, 
and each made a cocoon, they would yield three 
hundred and seventy-three pounds, because one 
hundred and fifty cocoons o( this breed weigh 
about one pound and a half: on the contrary, 
to form an ounce o( eggs o( eommon sized 
worms o( four casts or moultings, 3,168 will 
bo required; which all producing worms, and 
each worm a cocoon, would yield one hundred 
and sixty-two pounds o( cocoons, beeause about 
360 COCOOnS of this breed weigh a pound and a 
half: while to form an ounce oi' c^* o( silk 
worms of three casts or moultings, it will re- 
quire 42,200 eggs, and if all these eggs pro- 
duced each one worm, and all the worms lived, 
the ounce o( eggs would yield one hundred and 
five pounds of cocoons, because 600 cocoons of 
this breed weigh about a pound and a half. We 
have already demonstrated the difference which 
exists in the quality o( silk drawn from the 
above different species of silk worms: we leave 
to the eulturist to choose between them. 

It mav be easily ascertained from the above 



BILK CULTURIST0 MANUAL. L70 

facts, ami hy the quantity of cocoon* obtaiiied« 

how many worms have died ID the various ageS,OT 
how many eggS have foiled U) produce worms: 

and then thii will serve to form an opinion on the 
various methodi of rearing the worm,, and to 
adopt the most, favorable to their preservation* 

There are some other bets not useless to be re- 
called in this chapter; they are the following! 

According to the author above named, it ap- 
pears that from the time of the moths laying 
the eggs until they are taken off the cloths* 
that is to 'ay. in a period of nine months, they 
lose only about i-ioo of their weight, and that 
from the day. that the eggs of the common silk 
worms are put. into the stove room until they 
begin to hatch, they lose, on an average, 47 
grains per ounce, which is equivalent to J 12 
of their total 

The weight of the shells of the eggs, after 
the hatching of the worms, amount to J 1 6 grains 
per ounce, which is about J -5th of the total 
weight Therefore, after deducting the loss of 
weight of the eggs in the stove room, and the 
ght of the shell ; 54,625 .ilk worms, just 

hatched, make an ounce, while to make the 

same weight, 39,168 eggs were sufficient 
Following the same author, we will now give 

1 1 1 a t i •. e t o 1 1 j e i pac e w h i e h shoul d 
be sss ipied by the sills worms, in their differ- 



180 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

ent ages, and the quantity of leaves consumed 
by them, with some observations on this last 
subject. We will show afterwards, the increase 
and decrease of silk worms in weight and size, 
and make some remarks relative to the cocoons 
containing the healthy, the diseased, or dead 
chrysalis. Next, we will give some facts rela- 
tive to the production of the eggs, and lastly, 
some relative to the buildings and utensils. 

Facts relative to the extent of space which 
should be occupied by the silk worms in their 
different ages, and the quantity of leaves 
consumed by them, with some observations on 
this last subject. 

As we have already said, the worms proceed- 
ing from one ounce of eggs should have space 
as follows, viz: 

Square Feet. In. 

In the first age, of 9| 

second age, 14 8 

third age, 46 

fourth age, 109 

fifth age, 239 

We would here willingly state the weight of 
the materials required to form the hedges or 
cabins sufficient for receiving the worms of one 
ounce of eggs, that is to say, one hundred and 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 181 

twenty pounds of cocoons, but the varieties of 
brush wood, straw, heath or vegetable sub- 
stances used for the purpose, differ so much in 
weight, that the calculation would scarcely 
be correct, therefore, we will leave this to the 
sagacity and experience of the cultivator. 

It results from a calculation made with the 
greatest exactness, that the quantity of leaves 
gathered from the tree, which is really con- 
sumed for each ounce of eggs, amounts to 1614 
lb., as we shall presently show, viz; 

lbs. oz. 

First age, sorted leaves, 6 

Second age, do. do. 22 8 

Third age, do. do. 60 

Fourth age, do. do. 180 

Fifth age, do. do. 1098 



Per oz. of eggs, sorted leaves, 1366 8 

We must here give some explanation, not 
having ^done so in the course of this work, of 
what we mean by sorted leaves, that is to say 
well sorted. 

Great care must be taken in picking and 
sorting the leaves for the feeding of the worms 
in their first ages, such as picking off all the 
twigs, stalks of the leaves, spots, &c. and to clear 
them as much as possible from all useless parts. 
17 



182 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

This operation is most essential in the two first 
ages, when the leaves are to be chopped very 
small. 

In the third age, the sorting and picking the 
leaves is not of so much consequence, and still 
less so in the fourth and fifth ages. 

The sorting and picking is of importance, 
inasmuch as it enables you to put 15 or 20 
per cent, less substance upon the wickers than 
would otherwise be done, and which the worms 
do not eat. This substance increases the lit- 
ter and the moisture, without necessity or mo- 
tive. 

In the fifth age, and even in the fourth, when 
the season is favourable, leaves mixed with a 
quantity of mulberries, boughs and stalks, may 
be put on the hurdles, although it is known that 
the worms do not eat them, because at that 
period it would be too troublesome to sort so 
large a quantity perfectly, nor is there the same 
motive to do so. These substances being by 
this time grown large, hard, and woody, are 
less liable to fermentation, although they may 
accumulate as litter. If the laboratories are 
constantly dry, and well aired, these substances 
will do no mischief, but keep the litter light, 
and allow the air to circulate more freely 
through it. 

Let us resume our subject. 

The actual quantity of mulberry leaves gath- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 



183 



ered from the tree, and consumed for each ounce 
of eggs, is, as we have already shown, 

lb. 



1366 



But the above quantity of 
leaves has lost by sorting so 
much weight in the following 
proportion, viz: refuse pick- 
ed from the leaves, 

First age, 

Second age, 

Third age, 

Fourth age, 

Fifth age, 



1 

3 

9 

27 

102 



oz, 
8 



Refuse picked off, per oz. of eggs. 142 8 

Total of leaves, 1509 

During the whole period of 
rearing the silk worms, the 
1509 lbs. of the leaves taken 
from the tree, will lose by 
evaporation, and other causes, 
besides sorting and picking 
as above stated, 105 

Great total, 1614 

Observations on the above facts. 
From the above facts it follows: 
1. That it requires about 13 lb. 7 oz. of 
leaves to obtain a pound of cocoons, and that 



184 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

it requires 1614 lb. to obtain 120 lb. which 
an ounce of eggs should yield. 

2. That this quantity of leaves gathered from 
the tree, deducting 142 lb. 8 oz. of refuse 
and sorting, and 105 pounds of decrease, by 
means of evaporation, it only requires 11 lb. 
6 oz. of pure leaf, per pound of cocoons, or 
1366 lb. for 120 of cocoons. 

3. That if we deduct from the 1366 lb 9 
the residue, such as little branches, stalks, 
fruit, and fragments of leaves not eaten by 
the silk worms, and taken off the hurdles with 
the litter, the quantity of pure leaf necessary 
to obtain one pound of cocoons will be still 
smaller ; and consequently that there is a great 
loss escaped in gas and vapour, in the labora- 
tory invisible to the eye, which present 
strong evidence of how formidable the enemies 
are which assail the silk worms. 

Although the cultivators in Europe know 
not the force of the material cause that pro- 
duces death of their silk worms, they, however, 
know that in the last period or age, every part 
of the laboratory should be opened ; but often 
in avoiding one danger, they meet another, 
such as exposing the worms to cold and wind, 
which may harden them, and cause them to 
drop off at the moment they had begun to spin 
their cocoons j there is only the gentle and 



SILK CULTUMST'S MANUAL. 185 

continual renewal and motion of the internal 
air that can be beneficial and natural to the silk 
worms. 

It is considered astonishing, that one single 
worm which, when first hatched, only weighs 
the hundredth part of a grain, should consume, 
in about thirty days, above an ounce of leaves, 
that is to say, that it devours, in vegetable sub- 
stance, about 60,000 times its primitive weight. 

The result of experience tends to show that 
in warm climates, the silk worms consume ra- 
ther less leaf than we have here stated, be- 
cause it appears that the quality of the leaf is 
more nutritive. Count Dandolo says, that in 
the favorable regions of Dalmatia, he obtain- 
ed one pound and a half of cocoons from fifteen 
pounds of leaves, and fifteen pounds of cocoons 
yielded one pound and a half of silk, although 
he adds that it was not so delicate and fine as 
Italian silk. 

Facts relative to the increase and decrease of 
silk worms, in weight and size. 

100 worms just hatched, weigh about 1 gr. 
" after the first moulting, 15 " 

** after the second moulting, 94 " 

" after the third moulting, 400 i{ 

" after the fourth moulting, 1628" 

On attaining the greatest size & weight 9500 Ci 
17* 



1 


line. 


4 


Si 


6 


a 


12 


is 


20 


a 



186 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

Thus they have in thirty days increased 
9500 times their primitive weight. 
The length of the silk worm when 

just hatched is about 
After the first moulting its length is 
After the second moulting " 
After the third moulting " 

After the fourth moulting " 
After the fifth moulting many attain 

the length of 40 " 

The length of the silk worm is thus increas- 
ed forty times in twenty- eight days. 

Progressive Decrease. 
100 silk worms, when arrived at the 
highest state of maturity, size, 
and perfection, weigh 7760 grs, 

100 chrysalides, weigh 3900 " 

100 female moths, weigh 2990 " 

100 male moths, weigh 1700 " 

100 female moths having deposited 

their eggs, weigh 980 u 

100 female moths dying naturally, 
after having laid their eggs, and 
nearly quite dried, weigh 350 u 

In the space of twenty-eight days more, the 
silk worm has diminished or lost, thirty times 
its own weight. Its length, from the period of 
the largest growth until it changes into chrysa- 
lis, diminishes about two-fifths. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 187 

During, and immediately after coupling, the 
moth appears to augment in weight: 100 female 
moths, which before coupling weighed 2990 
grains, weigh immediately after, 3200 grains. 

The worm diminishes gradually in weight 
during the last twenty-eight days of its exist- 
ence $ that is from the moment of attaining 
its perfection as a worm, until its death in the 
form of a moth, it eats nothing, is supported by 
its own substance, and yet accomplishes in that 
period, the most important functions of its life. 

The facts we have stated demonstrate the 
strong vitality of the silk worm s and what pains 
and errors must be adopted to disease and kill it. 

Remarks relative to the cocoon containing the 
healthy chrysalis, and those containing the 
decayed, gangrened or stained chrysalis. 

When the cocoons are perfectly formed, they 
diminish in the first four days, three quarters 
per cent, each day ; the other days the dimi- 
nution is very trifling. 
1000 ounces of perfect cocoons are 

composed, of living chrysalides, 842 oz. 
Of the remains or envelopes cast by 
the worms when they become chry- 
salides, 4| " 
Of pure cocoons, 153J " 

Total, 1000 



188 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

Each healthy cocoon proceeding from a well 
managed laboratory contains the seventh part, 
and even 2.13ths of pure cocoon, when com- 
pared to the weight of the cocoon containing 
the chrysalis. 

However, the fact is, that the average quan- 
tity of reeled silk obtained from the cocoon is 
about 1.12th, that is to say that 140 ounces of 
perfect cocoons, with the healthy chrysalides, 
which contains about twenty-one ounces of pure 
cocoon, will only produce twelve ounces of spun 
silk, 

Let us now connect the facts we have stated. 
About thirteen pounds seven ounces of mul- 
berry leaves, will produce one pound of cocoons; 
seven and a half pounds of cocoons, containing 
the healthy chrysalides, will yield about eighteen 
ounces of pure cocoon ; and these eighteen 
ounces of pure cocoons will give only eight 
ounces of spun silk. 

The proportion then, between the weight of 
the mulberry leaves and that of the pure co- 
coon, is something about 89 5-9 to 1, and the 
proportion of the weight of the mulberry leaves 
and that of the spun silk is as 201 \ to 1. It is 
proper to add that the proportion between the 
spun silk drawn from the cocoon itself, may 
vary according to the ill or good management 
of the worms, and the skill of the reelers. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 189 

The proportion between the weight of the 
cocoons containing the healthy chrysalis which 
can be spun, and that part called the coarse 
floss which cannot be spun in the same man- 
ner, is, on an average nineteen to one ; that 
is to say, we find one pound of coarse floss to 
nineteen of cocoon that can be spun. 

Cocoons containing the decayed, gangrened or 
stained chrysalides. 

Generally, it is not possible to separate the 
chrysalides from those cocoons ; the worm or 
chrysalides being turned into a corrupt, black, 
soapy substance, sticking to the inside of the 
cocoon. Sometimes the mummy is exceedingly 
black, and now and then detached, but most 
frequently it adheres to the cocoon. 

Part of these cocoons may be spun ; the stain 
does not always alter and spoil the silk, but the 
spinners can never be sure of the quantity of 
silk they may be able to wind from them, and 
they in general, dislike working on them. 

The silk drawn from cocoons with diseased 
chrysalides, is never so fine as that given by 
perfect cocoons with healthy chrysalides 5 860 
cocoons of the diseased chrysalis weigh only a 
pound and a half; thus the cultivator loses two- 
thirds, or three-fifths, upon this quality of co- 
coon. 



190 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

We must here state, in speaking of these sorts 
of cocoons, that we have only made our ex- 
periments upon such cocoons as were brought 
to us from various places; therefore, our calcu- 
lations may very possibly differ from those of 
other observers. 

Facts relative to the production of the eggs. 

Three hundred and sixty cocoons of the finest 
equality, weigh about 25 ounces. If we suppose 
half of these to be females, these will be about 
one hundred and eighty. 

Each impregnated moth weighs about 32 
grains, and altogether 5760 grains, which make 
about 10 ounces. 

After four, five, or six days, each moth will 
have laid, on an average, 510 eggs. This num- 
ber of eggs is equivalent to 7| grains, as 68 
eggs weigh a grain. 

The 180 female moths consequently lay 
91,800 eggs, which weigh 1350 grains, or 
about two ounces and one- third. 

This proportion of two ounces one-third per 
pound of cocoons, augments and diminishes, ac- 
cording as in the 360 cocoons which form one 
pound and a half, females predominate, and vice 
versa. 

When the 180 moths have laid their eggs, 
they weigh only 1800 grains, and as it has been 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 191 

stated that the eggs weighed 1350 grains, it 
will appear that the moths have lost 2,610 grains, 
in earthy, liquid, and aeriform substance. 

If the 91,800 eggs, obtained from 180 moths, 
yielded an equal number of silk worms, and 
that, well managed, they each, in time, formed 
a cocoon, from the eggs produced by the above 
mentioned If lb. of cocoons, we should obtain 
382 lb. 8 oz. of cocoons, which the following 
year would yield eggs sufficient to produce 
97,537 lb. 8 oz. of cocoons. 

Facts relative to the buildings and utensils. * 

To make the laboratory of the silk worms 
similar to their native climate, they must be 
enabled to live in it perfectly free from all 
moisture; the temperature should neither be 
too hot nor too cold, and, above all, they should 
never be exposed to sudden transitions from 
one state of atmosphere to another; the air 
should always circulate gently. 

A warehouse, a cellar, or any other low, 
shady, close place, is best calculated for the 
preservation of the leaves during two or three 
days, provided it be cool, damp, and shut from 
air and light. 

The utensils employed to rear silk worms, 
are constructed so as to spare time and expense, 
and for the better management of the silk worms 



192 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

and the eggs at all times. The interest of the 
cultivator, and the progress of the art will soon 
make the rules which have heen laid down, very 
useful. 



PART III. 



OF THE PREPARATION OF RAW SILK FOR 
EXPORTATION. 



CHAPTER I 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 

It is not enough to plant mulberry trees, to 
raise silk worms and produce cocoons. The 
cocoons must be either disposed of by sale or 
employed to some profitable use. They can 
only be sold in the country where they are 
produced, because they will not bear the ex- 
pense of transportation, and they cannot be 
exported beyond sea, because in the first 
place, they are a bulky article, and cannot 
be pressed, like cotton ; the freight, therefore, 
and other expenses attending such transporta- 
tion, would exceed their value, and secondly, 
they are subject to rotting in a sea voyage, be- 
cause of the dampness of the sea air, and the 
decomposition of the chrysalis within. For 
these reasons, it is indispensable that the 
cocoons should find a ready market in the coun- 
18 



194 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

try where they are produced. These markets 
are filatures, or reeling establishments. 

Before silk can be employed in any kind ofi 
manufacture, it must be subjected to two differ- 
ent mechanical processes, which are reeling 
and throwing. 

Reeling, or as it is also called spinning, is no- 
thing else than extracting and winding off the 
silk from the cocoons, in threads of various 
thickness made up into skeins so as to fit it for 
exportation, or for sale in the markets at home. 
When it has undergone this process, it is 
called raw silk, and as such is in great demand 
among the manufacturers of Europe. It is 
performed by means of a cheap machine called 
a reel 

Throwing is the name given in England, to 
what we call here twisting silk. It is performed 
like the twisting of cotton, by means of very 
complicated and expensive machinery. This 
part of the silk business is done in Europe by 
men who follow it exclusively as a trade or 
profession, they are called silk-throwsters. 
Several of them have already migrated from 
England into this country, and more will follow 
as soon as it will produce a sufficient quantity of 
raw silk to give them employment. 

As this branch of the business does not be- 
long to the silk culturist, we shall abstain from 



SILK CULTUR[ST'S MANUAL 195 

saying any thing upon it, any more than upon 
the operation of dyeing which follows it. 
These are trades by themselves, which have 
no connection with agriculture, and it is for 
agriculturists alone, and not for manufacturers 
that this work is designed. The reeling of 
silk is a proper employment for farmers' wives 
and daughters, either at home or in large fila- 
tures, therefore we think it necessary to give all 
the instruction in our power upon this impor- 
tant subject, besides that without the art of reel- 
ing, it is impossible to draw any profit from the 
cocoons, which, as we have said before, cannot 
either be exported or manufactured without 
being converted into raw silk, all the rest may 
be considered as more properly belonging to 
manufacturing establishments, and therefore is 
not within the purvieu of this treatise. 

We are well aware that in this country, and 
particularly in Connecticut, the labor of silk 
culturists is principally, if not exclusively ap- 
plied to the manufacturing of sewing silk. Far 
from encouraging, we think it our duty to do 
all in oufpower to discourage this species of 
industry as it is now pursued, because we are 
fiilly convinced that it will never be a source 
of profit to the United States, but on the con- 
trary it will check the progress of the silk 
culture. Bad habits, when they have once 



196 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

taken root in a country are not easily laid 
aside, and we regret to be obliged to say that 
agriculturists are of all men the most tenacious 
of their old customs, and that it is difficult to 
introduce modern improvements among them 
either in their implements or in their method 
of husbandry. All travellers unite in mak- 
ing this observation, and this country, candor 
compels us to say, is not exempt from its appli- 
cation. 

Every where in Europe, the converting of 
raw silk into sewing silk, is the business of 
throwsters. The farmer confines himself to his 
cocoonery and his reel, and leaves the rest to 
those mechanics who have acquired a sufficient 
skill in their various arts, and employ competent 
machinery. In this country, on the contrary, 
every thing, spinning, twisting and even dyeing, 
is done by the same hands, and with rude in- 
struments not at all fitted for the purpose. It 
is with the common spinning wheels that silk 
is reeled from the cocoons and is twisted into 
an inferior sewing silk, which can never stand 
a competition with that imported from Europe. 
For near eighty years, this method has been 
pursued, and the art has not advanced a single 
step, yet every body knows that the great pro- 
gress made in Europe in the various arts, is 
owing to the principle of the division of labor. 



SILK CULTUMST'S MANUAL. 197 

But all this dear-bought experience seems to 
be disregarded. We have been repeatedly 
asked whether the same individual or the same 
company, could not plant mulberry trees, raise 
silk worms, wind the silk from the cocoons, 
throw or twist it, dye it in various colors, and 
manufacture it into different articles. We can- 
not qualify this gigantic scheme otherwise than 
by saying that if it should ever be tried, it will 
infallibly be found to be the road to ruin. 

Agriculture and manufactures are professions 
so entirely distinct, that they can never be 
pursued together with any expectation of suc- 
cess* It will be said, perhaps, that even the 
reeling of silk is a mechanical operation, and 
may be properly classed among the arts which 
belong to manufactures. This is undoubtedly 
true; nevertheless, it is one of those arts which 
the agriculturist may pursue with advantage. 
It may be assimilated to the spinning of flax, 
cotton and wool, and the weaving of common 
stuifs, the machinery of which is not costly, and 
which furnish an agreeable and profitable em- 
ployment to the wives and daughters of farmers, 
in their leisure hours, and on that account are 
called domestic manufactures. But the throw- 
ing or twisting, and the dyeing of silk, do not 
come under this denomination, and must be left 
to those who profess those arts exclusively. It 
*18 



198 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

is true that reeling cannot be carried on to a 
great extent in farm houses, nor to the same ad- 
vantage as in large filatures, but it is not on this 
account to be discouraged, because it is an use- 
ful and a profitable employment to the agricul- 
turist, and employs many hands which would 
otherwise remain idle. 

It must not be believed, however, that the 
art of reeling silk is as easy of acquisition as 
that of spinning flax, wool or cotton. It is a 
popular error not only in this country, but in 
Europe, that it requires neither instruction nor 
experience. This doctrine has been widely 
propagated in these United States by bold theo- 
rists who have never seen a regular filature, 
and with so much success, that the committee 
on agriculture at a late session of the Congress 
of the United States have reported it as a fact 
to the House of Representatives, that the art of 
reeling silk was sufficiently known, and there- 
fore expressed it as their opinion that there was 
no need of instruction in that branch. This is 
a most lamentable error, as we shall show here- 
after. 

We have said that this false notion prevails not 
only in this country, but also in Europe. Mr. 
Pitaro, an eminent writer on the silk culture, 
thus expresses himself in his excellent treatise, 
entitled, u La Science de la Setifere;" (on the 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 199 

science of the silk culture:) " Every body 
in Italy and France, say some ill informed theo- 
rists, knows how to reel silk from the cocoons, 
but the fact is otherwise f 9 and he proceeds to 
show the falsity of this unfounded notion, in 
which opinion he is joined by all those who 
have knowingly written upon the subject, as 
will be shown in its place, by numerous extracts 
from their works. 

But the manufacturers, who are sometimes 
compelled to employ silk thus badly reeled, are 
loud in their complaints. We shall expatiate 
more fully on this subject in another chapter. 

We do not mean by saying this, to discour- 
age the wives and daughters of American far- 
mers. They will with proper instruction be- 
come perfect in this most important art. We 
know by experience that they learn much more 
quickly and shew more dexterity in the busi- 
ness than the females of Europe, whose hands 
are too much hardened by the labors of the 
field in which they are generally employed, and 
we think we may say with confidence, that a 
steady and sober American girl, who shall have 
spent a reasonable time in a regularly established 
filature, if she should marry an industrious far- 
mer, will prove a treasure to her husband. 

The art of reeling alone being so difficult as 
to require instruction and experience, we can- 



200 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

not but admire the eriterprize of those Ameri- 
can ladies, who,in their domestic manufacture of 
sewing silk, with only rude instruments, attempt 
to unite the art of the reelerto those of the throw- 
ster, and the silk dyer. We wonder, indeed, that 
they have attained such a degree of perfection 
in those arts, as they have done, but the per- 
fection that is required to make silk a source 
of profit to their country, by those means they 
never can reach. 

We hope to be permitted to expatiate some- 
what at length on this domestic manufacture of 
sewing silk, because we consider it as the most 
pernicious system that could be introduced into 
a silk growing country, and fatal to the silk 
culture in the United States, as we shall be able 
to show by the consequences which it has al- 
ready produced. 

The principal seat of this domestic manufac- 
ture is the State of Connecticut, where it is 
mostly carried on in the counties of Windham 
and Tolland. In the year 1830, we took a 
journey to those counties, in company with 
Mr. Duponceau ; it was in the season when the 
worms had finished their work, and the farmers 
were gathering their cocoons. We visited 
several cocooneries, and we must say that we 
were not satisfied with their method of silk 
culture. One of those silk culturists, who 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 201 

had read our essays on American silk, shrewd- 
ly observed that the author could not be a 
practical man, because he recommended shelter- 
ing the silk worm's eggs from the cold in the 
winter. "In this country/ 7 said he, " we leave 
our eggs exposed to the cold, and they never- 
theless produce good crops of cocoons." We 
found the fact of the exposure of the eggs as 
he stated it; but we have no doubt, that a 
great many perished from cold during the 
winter, which would have made a large and 
valuable addition to the " crop of cocoons." 
Our great object however, was to witness 
the process of the sewing silk manufacture, and 
to obtain correct information as to the manner 
in which that silk was disposed of, and the pro- 
fits that arose from it. With that view, we 
remained several days in the town of Mansfield, 
where that manufacture is principally carried 
on. We saw the women at their work, which 
we need not describe here, as it is sufficiently 
known ; we tried to persuade them that there 
were better methods of proceeding, but we 
found their prejudices too deeply rooted; 
they were well satisfied with what their mothers 
and their grandmothers had done before them. 
This is not peculiar to Connecticut; in the silk 
growing countries of Europe we have seen, 
women who reel their silk after a method 



202 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

taught by their great-grand mothers; and who 
will not adopt the modern improvements, to 
the great dissatisfaction of the silk manufac- 
turers, who, of course, pay them an inferior 
price for their imperfect silk. But they do 
not mind that, and will still go on in their old 
way ; human nature is the same all over the 
world. 

Of this we are going to give a remarkable 
example. We found that in the town of Mans- 
field, there was an excellent Piedmont reel, 
which, it would seem, had been brought there as 
an object of curiosity, for no one made use of it. 
Desirous of convincing the people of the place 
of the advantage of using that instrument, and 
at the same time showing them how it might be 
employed, we gave notice that we would reel 
silk from it on a particular day, before all who 
should choose to be present. A room was pre- 
pared for the purpose, and a large concourse 
of people attended ; cocoons were produced in 
abundance, which we reeled off, and the skeins 
were handed round to the company, and seem- 
ed to be much admired. Nevertheless, there 
did not appear to be any change in the popu- 
lar opinion. One young lady alone, who had paid 
great attention to our method of proceeding, 
sent us in the evening a skein of silk, which 
she had reeled herself on the Piedmont reel. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 203 

It was not, indeed, perfect, but it was sufficient 
to shew what American females can do, if they 
would only discard their too long indulged pre- 
judices. That young lady with proper instruc- 
tion, would have made an excellent reeler. 
What has become of the Piedmont reel since 
that time, we do not know. 

The people, in general, looked upon us with a 
suspicious eye. They thought we were specu- 
lators who intended to take some advantage of 
them, and we found them shy in answering our 
questions; nevertheless, there were gentlemen 
amongst the most respectable class to whom we 
had been recommended, who freely and candid- 
ly gave us all the information we wanted. This 
is the substance of what we obtained from them, 
and from our own observation. 

The domestic sewing silk, after being reeled, 
twisted and dyed, either by professed dyers or 
by the fair manufacturers themselves, is made 
up into skeins of certain dimensions, prescribed 
by the Legislature of the state, in order to pre- 
vent fraud and imposition, and is sent to the 
nearest store, where the merchant (as he is call- 
ed,) receives it in payment for articles furnish- 
ed to the family during the preceding year, 
or in advance for future supplies. He after- 
wards consigns it to certain hawkers or pedlars, 
who travel with it about the country, and dispose 



204 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

of it to the farmers in barter for the produce off 
the land, which finds its way into the merchant's 
store, who sells it to his neighbors on the credit 
of the next year's crop. The current price of 
that sewing silk was then four dollars a pound. 
It passed as a currency in that part of the 
country, the strongest proof that can be given 
of its poverty, although abounding in the rich- 
est production of the whole earth. 

We were informed by persons the best ac- 
quainted with the business of the place, and 
worthy of full credit, that the sales of sew- 
ing silk in the two counties of Windham and 
Tolland, amounted annually to fifteen thou- 
sand or eighteen thousand dollars. That amount 
was produced by 8,000 pounds of raw silk, each 
made out of twenty pounds of cocoons, which 
makes in the whole, 160,000 pounds of those 
balls.* Now, we beg to be allowed a few ob- 
servations on these important facts. 

In the first place, what a small sum is $ 18,000 
the highest in the computation, and that nomi- 
nal too, for the proceeds of 160,000 pounds of 
cocoons, to which is to be added all the labor 
and expense put upon that material to convert 

* These facts were made public in an elaborate article 
on silk, in the American Quarterly Review for Decem- 
ber, 1831, and never have been contradicted, that we 
know of. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 205 

it into sewing silk ! Were the farmers to sell 
those cocoons at only 20 cents a pound, (the 
lowest price for good cocoons that we can think 
of,*) they would produce 32,000 dollars, nearly 
double the amount above mentioned and that in 
ready cash, (for they are a cash article) without 
the labor and expense attending the reeling, 
twisting and boiling, and the dyeing in various 
colors. 

It may be said that since we were in Connec- 
ticut, that state has allowed to the reelers a 
bounty of fifty cents on every pound of raw silk 
reeled on an improved reel, which they should 
produce. We shall say nothing of the improved 
reel? but we say that even with that bounty, 
which on 8,000 pounds of raw silk, which we 
have shown above to be their yearly production, 
would amount to only 4,000 dollars they would 
make less than by the sale of their cocoons ; for 
4,000 dollars added to 18,000 dollars, the ad- 
mitted produce of their cocoons, wrought into 
sewing silk, make only 22,000 dollars, and their 
cocoons, at twenty cents per pound, would pro- 
duce 32,000 dollars, difference 10,000 dollars. 

If, on the contrary, the cocoons were sold 



* At the experimental filature in Philadelphia, in 
1830-2, forty cents were paid for every pound of cocoons 
that wa3 offered ; but that high price cannot be expected 
to continue. 

19 



206 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

for ready cash, that money would circulate 
among the people, stimulate their exertions, 
increase the quantity of silk, and enrich the 
whole country; filatures would be established 
in their neighborhood, and the state of Con- 
necticut, now so poor, would experience the 
highest degree of prosperity. We hope it is 
not too late, and that these fair prospects will 
yet come to be realized. 

It might, perhaps, be enough to have shown 
that this domestic manufacture of sewing silk, 
after all the labor and expense bestowed upon 
it, produces in its results from 30 to 40 per 
cent, less than the first raw material (the co- 
coons.) would produce, if sold at a moderate 
price in an open market; but we think it will 
not be amiss to show here what arc the causes 
of this enormous difference. We can easily de- 
monstrate that it is entirely to be ascribed to 
the imperfection of the implements used, and of 
the methods pursued, all of which arise from a 
lamentable ignorance of the art of reeling and 
the mechanism of throwing, by which alone the 
raw material can be converted into good and 
merchantable sewing silk. A few reflections on 
the facts above stated, will be sufficient to con- 
vince the reader of the truth of this assertion. 

1. Twenty pounds of cocoons employed in 
making one pound of raw silk, are double the 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 207 

quantity employed in Europe for the same pur- 
pose.* Here then is a loss of one hundred per 
cent. 

2. The sum of 18,000 dollars, which on the 
highest calculation is the annual proceeds of all 
the sewing silk made in the two counties above 
mentioned, at the current price of four dollars 
a pound, represents only 4500 pounds of sew- 
ing silk, and that is made, as above stated, out 
of 8000 pounds of raw silk ; here is again a loss 
of near fifty per cent. 

This loss is almost entirely produced by the 
imperfect reeling of the raw silk; in technical 
language it is called waste. We know that 
thrown silk loses something of its weight by the 
dissolution of the gum in boiling, but that never 
exceeds twenty per cent., and we know also 
that this loss is more or less compensated by the 
dyeing, particularly in black. In Europe, when 
sewing silk is dyed in black, the dyer is oblig- 
ed to return the same weight of silk that he has 
received ; so that the greatest part, and some- 
times the whole of this loss of weight, in Con- 
necticut, must be attributed to waste occasioned 
by bad reeling. 

The loss suffered in Europe on the best raw 



*'At the filature in Philadelphia, eight pounds of co- 
coons and sometimes less, were found sufficient for one 
pound of raw silk. 



208 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

silk, in the operation of throwing or twisting, 
seldom exceeds four per centum, when thrown 
in Italy, and live when thrown in England. 
(BadnalPs view of the Silk Trade, page 63.) 
That which was sent to England, from the ex- 
perimental filature at Philadelphia, to be manu- 
factured, suffered only a loss of 3 5.8ths per 
cent., which shows the great strength of Ameri- 
can silk. It must be acknowledged that it was 
thrown with great care by Mr. Edward Moly- 
neux, an eminent silk throwster at Manchester, 
from whose report we have stated the above fact. 

Let this be compared with the immense loss 
suffered by the fair manufacturers of sewing 
silk in Connecticut. Waste of the cocoons in 
reeling, waste of the raw silk in twisting. Can 
the nation ever expect to derive profits from 
this mode of proceeding?^ 

In vain Congress have tried to encourage that 
domestic manufacture by a duty, amounting al- 
most to a prohibition, but the attempt has com- 
pletely failed. In the year 1832, a duty not 
less than 40 per cent, was laid, by what is call- 
ed the compromise act, on all imported sewing 
silk ; the result has only been, nearly to double 
the price of Italian silk, and to encourage for- 
eign manufacturers, as will be presently ex- 
plained. In the year 1830, to which we have 
above referred, not an ounce of Connecticut 



silk: culturist's manual. 209 

sewing silk was purchased in our great sea 
ports. Since that time, notwithstanding the 
forty per cent, duty, this state of things has 
not changed ; on the contrary, we are told, 
though we do not vouch for the fact, that the 
quantity of that kind of domestic silk has di- 
minished ; which shows that no improvements 
have heen made in that manufacture. A few 
days ago we called on a respectable merchant 
of this city, who deals largely in silk and par- 
ticularly in sewing silk, and asked to pur- 
chase some of the Connecticut manufacture ; he 
told us that he had none, that two years ago a 
case containing about forty pounds of that arti- 
cle had been sent to him to be disposed of, but 
he could not sell a single skein, and he was at 
last obliged to send back the case with its con- 
tents, to the place from whence he had receiv- 
ed it. He told us however, that he had a great 
deal of American sewing silk for sale, which 
he showed to us and which we found nearly 
equal to the imported. It was truly American, 
all except the material of which it was made. 
This requires some explanation, which we are 
going to give. 

When in the year 1830, the silk bill came 

before Congress, and when afterwards American 

raw silk was sent from hence to England, it 

made a great noise in that country. The silk 

19* 



210 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

throwsters at that time were dissatisfied with 
an act of the British Parliament, which had 
considerably lowered the duty on foreign silks. 
Expecting to find employment, they came in 
shoals to this country. Several of them applied 
to us, whom we advised to return home, telling 
them that the country did not yet produce raw 
silk enough to employ them in throwing. A 
number of them, however, remained, and the 
silk bill having failed, they thought of some 
mode to turn their industry to account. They 
could not teach the art of reeling because they 
did not know it, England not being a silk pro- 
ducing country; the most of them, before they 
jcome over had never seen a cocoon in their 
lives; but they knew that England manufactur- 
ed foreign silks, and that it was to her a great 
source of profit ; they persuaded our capital- 
ists to do the same. Those did not consider that 
if England had produced the raw material she 
would manufacture it in preference to that of 
other countries; they therefore imported raw 
silks from China and Bengal, and began at once, 
with the aid of the new comers, to enter upon 
the business of manufacturing silk. Sewing 
silk was their first object, it being the easiest 
to make, and of the most ready sale; besides 
that, it was protected by a duty of 40 per cent. 
This is the American sewing silk that was of- 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 211 

fered to us by the merchant of whom we have 
spoken. It was indeed manufactured in this 
country, but of foreign material, and under the 
name of American silk, it found a ready sale, at 
a price nearly equal to that of Italian silk, which 
in consequence of the high duty has now risen 
from 6 to 11 dollars per pound ; thus what was 
intended for the benefit of the agriculturists of 
the United States, has only turned to the ad- 
vantage of the silk growers of Bengal and 
China, and the English throwsters who had 
made their way into this country. The politi- 
cians opposed to the tariff system, who by their 
opposition prevented the passage of the silk bill 
and who voted for the high duty on imported 
sewing silk, showed that their knowledge of the 
subject had not yet been improved by experi- 
ence. 

We consider this duty as a fatal blow to 
American agriculture : as long as we do not reel 
silk as perfectly as they do in Europe, as long 
as raw material shall lose from 30 to 40 per 
cent, in the throwing, it is evident that all those 
who wish to derive a profit from the silk busi- 
ness will prefer employing the foreign rather 
than the American material. Thus the farm- 
ers may plant mulberry trees, breed silk worms 
and produce cocoons, these will find no sale 
and no market any where, and a universal dis- 



212 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

couragement will put an end to that zeal for the 
silk culture which some go so far as to call a ma- 
nia, and which is now so prevalent in this coun- 
try. The same thing happened once in Prussia, 
where, after many years of expectation, they 
were forced to cut down their mulberry trees, 
which they had planted and cultivated with 
great care. In Mexico, they make admirable 
sewing silk out of the foreign raw material, and 
with the aid of foreign manufacturers, and, al- 
though a species of silk worms is a native of their 
country, their government has in vain endeavor- 
ed to turn their attention to the silk culture. It 
is much to be feared that the Americans at last 
will offer another sad example of the bad effects 
of giving encouragement to foreign industry in 
preference to their own. 

There has never been a more striking exam- 
ple of the uncertainty of the protecting system. 
We do not wish to enter into the discussion of 
this long agitated question, but this we are free 
to say, that duties on imported articles have not 
seldom produced effects quite different from 
those that were intended. So little is the sci- 
ence of political economy yet understood. If 
we can venture an opinion, we think that the 
question will be solved by the general adoption 

Of FREE TRADE. 

What then is to be done under such circum- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 213 

stances ? We can only repeat what we have 
already said several times before, that without 
perfection in the art of reeling, no profit can 
ever be derived from the silk culture in this 
country. 

The only preparation required to export silk 
to Europe, is the reeling. This, as we have 
said before, may be done by agriculturists, as 
well as the spinning of flax and other raw ma- 
terials. For in fact, it is nothing but spinning^ 
and is so denominated in Italy and France, 
where it is called filer, filar e, which literally 
means to spin. Hence the wor&filature, which 
is applied to reeling establishments. Every 
thing beyond that, including the making of 
sewing silk, belongs exclusively to manufactures, 
and in no sense to agriculture, and, therefore, 
makes no part of this present treatise, 



CHAPTER II. 



OF THE DIFFCULTY AND IMPORTANCE OF 
THE ART OF REELING. 

We have said in the preceding chapter that 
it is a vulgar error, not only in this country? 
but also in Europe, that nothing is so easy as 
the reeling of silk from the cocoons, that the 
operation may be performed by any woman 
without instruction, or very little, like the 
spinning of flax or wool. 

Nothing is so unfounded as this opinion. The 
delicate material which is here to be spun, in 
consequence of the extreme fineness of its fibres, 
is so difficult to be handled, and is liable in the 
handling to so many accidents, so much care 
and attention is required to draw and unite 
those almost imperceptible fibres into threads 
fit to be employed in manufactories, that it is 
impossible to learn this art without manual 
and ocular instruction, followed by practice 
and experience. We will endeavor in another 
chapter to describe, as clearly as possible, the 
various processes of this difficult art; but we 
are well convinced that our descriptions how- 
ever minute, will not be sufficient without oc- 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 215 

ular demonstration, to enable any one to reel 
silk with the perfection that is required, and if 
a bad method is once fallen upon, it will be found 
almost impossible to eradicate it. The example 
of Connecticut, where, during a period of near 
eighty years, no improvement has taken place 
in the rude method which is pursued there, the 
glaring defects of which we have, we think, 
clearly demonstrated, is of itself sufficient to 
prove the truth of our assertion. 

What mostly contributes to propagate and 
maintain this delusion in Europe, is that the 
farmer's wives and daughters are seen to reel 
silk at their farm houses, and having acquired, 
great dexterity in it by long practice and ex- 
perience, appear to perform their work with 
great ease. When Commodore Porter was at 
Mahon, a few years ago, and saw for the first 
time the women at their reels, he wrote to his 
friend Mr. Skinner, of Baltimore, that the pro- 
cess of reeling was simple and easy; afterwards, 
when better informed, he admitted that it re- 
quired both skill and experience. 

Another circumstance also contributes to 
maintain that false opinion, particularly in this 
country. Raw silk may appear beautiful to the 
unexperienced eye, and yet be full of imper- 
fections. These causes have produced the vul- 
gar notions that we are speaking of. But the 



216 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

manufacturers know better, as well as the au- 
thors who have written with a full knowledge 
of the subject. It will be well to quote here 
some of their remarks: 

In the year 1828, the French government, 
with a view to encourage and protect their na- 
tive production, had laid a heavy duty on im- 
ported raw silk, amounting nearly to a prohi- 
tion. The consequence was, that the French 
reelers, having no longer any competition to 
fear, neglected their work and produced im- 
perfect silk. Of this the manufacturers com- 
plained bitterly to the government, and success- 
fully prayed for a repeal of the luckless duty,* 
as our farmers will probably pray, and we hope 
with like success, for the repeal of that of 40 
per cent., on foreign sewing silk. They repre- 
sented, that the imperfections in the reeling of 
the raw silk, occasioned a great increase of la- 
bor and expense to the manufacturer, and went 
so far as to say that their raw silk, not only that 
reeled in the farm houses, but in large filatures, 
with some honorable exceptions, had become 
inferior to that of Piedmont. To remedy this 



*Memoire des Negociants de Lyon, au ministre du 
commerce et des manufactures, in the Library of the 
American Philosophical Society, Miscellanea, L. No, S84. 
It is mentioned in a report of the Committee of Agricul- 
ture, which will be found in the Appendix. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 217 

evil, they prayed that the sum of 600,000 francs 
($120,000,) should be appropriated by the go- 
vernment to introduce every v\ here the most 
modern improvements in reeling, and particu- 
larly the machine of M. Gensoul, of which we 
shall speak in a subsequent chapter : their 
prayer was immediately granted, and the money 
was distributed amongst the silk growing de- 
partments. 

It would be too long to quote here all that 
those gentlemen say about the causes and con- 
sequences of bad reeling, and the loss which it 
occasions to the silk trade, it will be sufficient 
to cite their concluding sentence, which will 
afford to our readers an abundant subject for 
reflection: " Whatever," say they, " may be 
the skill of the French throwsters, it is impos- 
sible with raw silk imperfectly reeled, to pro- 
duce thrown silk of good quality. The best 
method of throwing cannot give to that which 
is badly reeled the qualities that it wants, while, 
on the other hand, a bad method of throw- 
ing, does not deprive silk, which, being well 
reeled, is^neat, equal, and nervous, of those in- 
dispensable qualities, for the good and easy fab- 
rication of silk stuffs." — Memoire, p. 25. 

Thus the operation of throwing or twisting 
silk after it is reeled, is thought to be less im- 
20 



21 8 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

portant than that of reeling, on which every 
thing depends. 

All the authors conversant with the subject, 
who have treated of the reeling of silk, have 
represented it as an art difficult to he acquired 
to the degree of perfection wliich is required 
hy the manufacturers of Europe, and which is 
necessary to make the raw silk sell to advantage, 
and also as an art which is not to he learned in 
hooks, but which requires to he taught by 
manual and ocular demonstration. Let us be 
allowed to quote here sonic passages from a few 
of those writers: 

Mr. Von Turken, an esteemed German writer 
on the silk culture, expresses himself thus: 
"The reeling of silk is of the highest impor- 
tance, for thereupon depends the good quality 
and fitness for use of the raw silk, the goodness 
of the stud's manufactured out of it, and the 
value of the silk in market. Even at the 
present time, from ignorance or negligence in 
reeling, great faults are sometimes committed; 
and it is proper to say, that when silk is badly 
reeled, it can find no purchaser, or only at 
so low a price, that the culture of silk is not 
worth the while." — On the Silk Culture, p. 90. 

The Chevalier Von lleintl, another German 
author, speaking on the art of reeling, says: "a 



SILK CULTURISTfl MANUAL 219 

mere description of this art, can never supply 
the place of ocular and practical instruction." 

— Ufiterricht irn Seidenbaue, p. 141. 

Mr. ])e Teste, a Frenchman, who has writ- 
ten a valuable work on the silk trade, after giv- 
ing a short description of the process of reel- 
ing, expresses himself thus: "After rending this 

description, it will certainly be believed that 
the management of a filature is a very easy 
thing; if the theory is easy, there is nothing so 
difficult as the practice.** And further, he 
says: "silk is always loo dear, when it is not 
well reeled."—/^ Teste, pp. . r >8, 59. 

In another part of the same work, he says: 
i( If it requires knowledge and particular atten- 
tion and care to produce a good result from the 
rearing of silk worms, it is in the art of filature, 
that profound knowledge is required, and yet 
that art is too often abandoned to ignorance and 
routine." — p. 12. 

Mr. Pitaro, an Italian writer on the silk 
culture, of whose excellent; work we have made 
much use in the foregoing chapters, speaks very 
strongly ^ipon this subject, and finds fault even 
with the directors of large filatures, for not 
paying a proper attention to their business. 
"Every body," says he "in Italy and France, 
according to some ill-informed theorists, knows 
how to reel silk from the cocoons, and yet the 



220 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

manufacturers in Italy as every where else, 
continually reproach the directors of filatures 
with receiving from them raw silks, which they 
can with difficulty make use of, and which they 
find diflicult to employ in the various tissues re- 
quired of them. Besides the irregularity and 
inequality of the silk in strength and in size, 
their silk is very often crispy. But these di- 
rectors, deaf to all observations, or wanting the 
necessary knowledge, take no notice of what is 
said to them ; whence it follows, that their fila- 
tures can only degenerate, and the silk trade be 
destroyed/'' — La Science de la Setifere, p. 117. 
The celebrated Count Dandolo, whose name 
is a host, also gives his testimony in favor of our 
position: "It is certainly," says he, "not easy 
to forsee to what sum the value of exported raw 
silk may rise, if the art of reeling shall become 
national, and be the object of the care and at- 
tention of intelligent, scientific, and patriotic 
individuals. Hitherto, this most valuable pur- 
suit has only presented a mass of various and 
different methods, most of which were uncer- 
tain, and many of them absurd." He says fur- 
ther: "The art of spinning or winding the silk 
from the cocoons, is, as yet, entirely in the 
hands of people as ignorant as those who for- 
merly reared silk worms ; for instance, it is a 
well known fact, that of two spinners, spinning 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 221 

each seven and a half pounds of cocoons of the 
same quality, one will extract constantly eight 
ounces of silk, whilst the other will only draw 
six ounces, and perhaps still less." — Dancfoh, 
Part cfelever les vers a so%e, pp. 383, 354. 

The English writers do not say much upon 
the subject, the art of reeling not being prac- 
tised in their country; their opinion however, 
on the necessity of good reeling is easily to be 
discovered in their works. 

Of American writers we cannot quote many, 
for they almost all agree in the common preju- 
dice that reeling is an art easily acquired; and 
some go so far as to say that we possess it in 
sufficient perfection in this country. There 
are, however some exceptions, and we are 
happy to avail ourselves of the testimony of the 
late William A. Vernon, Esq., of Rhode Island, 
in his excellent translation of M. De Labrousse's 
treatise on the culture of mulberry trees, which 
is accompanied with valuable notes by the trans- 
lator. 

" It is^peculiarly," says Mr. Vernon, "from 
the manner of winding the thread from the 
cocoons, that depends the profit which the 
state derives from the raising of silk w T orms. 
Though we may know how to cultivate the mul- 
berry, and to take care of the worms — though 
we possess the cocoons — all our cares are lost, 
20* 



222 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

if we bungle through the winding process. " — 
On the Cultivation of Mulberry Trees. Boston, 
1828. p. 106. 

Daniel Stebbins, Esq., of Northampton, in 
the state of Massachusetts, in a letter to the 
committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep- 
resentatives of the United States, dated Feb- 
ruary 10th, 1838, says in express terms, that 
u the quality and value of silk depend on the 
skill and perfection of reeling." — [Report of 
the committee, p. 19.) 

We avail ourselves also with pleasure of the 
opinion of Mr. Lewis Tinelli, an Italian gen- 
tleman, who has been for several years an 
inhabitant of this country. In an interesting 
little work, entitled " Hints on the Cultivation 
of the Mulberry, with some General Observa- 
tions on the Production of Silk," which he 
published at New York, in 1837, "I happen- 
ed," says he, " to have an opportunity to see 
some specimens of raw silk and sewing silk, 
wrought by the ladies of Windham and Tolland, 
which show beyond doubt that the very best 
results would be attained if they could only 
adopt, positively and decisively, different pro- 
cesses and systems from those they now follow." 
He then proceeds at length, to show the necessi- 
ty of establishing filatures where reelers may be 
instructed and their knowledge by this means 






SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 223 

disseminated throughout the country. We shall 
have occasion to refer further to what he says 
on this subject in a subsequent chapter. 

Mr, Tinelli is a refugee from Austrian ty- 
rany : he was one of the companions of Pellico, 
Maroncelli and Confalonieri, in the horrible 
dungeons of Spielberg ; he has adopted this 
country, and resicies now. as we understand, 
somewhere in the state of New York, we be- 
lieve at Newburgh. We have been told that 
he was once a director of a filature, and from 
the knowledge displayed in the little work above 
cited, we are inclined to believe it. We have 
not the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with 
him. 

In addition to these authorities, we have to 
adduce that of Mr. Boucher, an eminent silk 
merchant and manufacturer at Paris, with whom 
Mr. Duponceau corresponded on this subject 
in the year 1831 . That gentleman is of opinion 
that not less than ten years will be required 
to make our women perfect in the art of reeling, 
in which^sx differ widely from him. Reeling 
is performed in France by ignorant peasant 
girls, whose hands have become hardened by 
the labors of the field, in which they are con- 
stantly employed. Experience lias convinced 
us that American women will acquire the art in 
a much shorter time. This correspondence be- 






224 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL 



ing very interesting and entering largely upon 
the subject we have thought it too long to be 5 
inserted here, but it will be found in the appen-' 
dix. Mr. Du ponceau, not having kept copies 
of his letters, those of Mr. Boucher only will i 
be given, with explanatory notes, as publishedl 
in the Baltimore Chronicle of the Times, and af- 
terwards in Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania. . 

To these conclusive authorities many others 
might be added, but we think these will suffice., 
It is now ten years since we first recommended i 
the exportation of raw silk to Europe, and yet 
not an ounce has been exported, except that 
that which was sent to England, France and 
Mexico, from our experimental filature in this 
city, though its success might well have induced 
the experiment. Numerous improvements (so 
called) have been made in the reel and none in 
reeling. The machine has been improved by 
those who did not know how to use it, As to 
those pretended improvements our answer to 
the inventors has always been the same : " send 
your improved reels to Europe, and your for- 
tune is made." But this advice has not yet 
been followed, at least that we know of. 

The importance of the art of reeling is not 
less evident than its difficulty. We may plant 
mulberry trees, raise silk worms and produce 
cocoons to any extent 5 but the question still 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 225 

recurs, what shall we do with them ? They 
raust be employed in some manner or other, 
or else they will rot in the garret rooms of the 
farmer, and be a prey to the mice, the cock- 
roaches, and innumerable insects. What then 
is to be done? Some say we must manufac- 
ture ; but we cannot do that without knowing 
how to prepare the raw material, and the proof 
is that, as we have shown, our manufacturers 
are obliged to import their raw silk from foreign 
countries, because ours cannot be employed 
without considerable loss. Our silk, then, must 
be exported, until its increase in quantity, and 
its improvement in the preparation of it for 
the loom shall make it expedient for us to begin 
to covert it into stuffs. At any rate, whether 
we intend to manufacture or to export, the first 
thing to be done is to learn how to reel. With- 
out that we must eat our cocoons, as is said to 
be done in China, or suffer them to perish. 

The necessity of exporting our raw silk is be- 
gining to be felt throughout the United States. 
It was distinctly admitted at the late great 
meeting of the friends of the silk culture in 
Baltimore, and at that which followed it at Phil- 
adelphia, and no doubt it will be so everywhere 
else. 

We have said that the exportation which took 
place in the year 1830, from our experimental 



226 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

filature in this city, was sufficiently encouraging 
to induce others to follow the example, though 
no one has ventured to imitate us. The silk we 
sent to England was native American silk, reel- 
ed by American women, in the first year of 
their apprenticeship, but under the direction 
and inspection of the author of this work; nev- 
ertheless, it could not be expected to be per- 
fectly reeled, yet it was well received by the 
manufacturers of that country. In proof of 
this we give here an extract from a letter written 
by Edward Molyneux, Esq., of Manchester, 
whom we have already spoken of, to Petty 
Vaughan, Esq., Mr. Duponceau's friend and 
correspondent in London. It is dated the 21st 
of March, 1831. 

"I was prevented by illness from attending 
so promptly as I would have wished, to the 
samples of American silk which you committed 
to me; however, that is now done. I have put 
the silk through the different processes of wind- 
ing, throwing and dyeing, and the result of all 
is highly satisfactory — so much so that I should 
think a fine field is open for the culture of that 
article on the other side of the Atlantic. There 
is no fault to be found with its quality, which 
is superior to India silk, generally, and, in 
my opinion, fully equal to that of Frioul or 
Trent. I have had it dyed black, the color 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 227 

which most tries the silk, but which it takes 
very well. Some improvement, however, must 
be made in the reeling. 

"On the whole, I see no impediment to the 
growth of silk in America, and of its ready 
vent, in course of time, in this country. Of 
course a few years must elapse before our con- 
sumers get used to it, but this must eventually 
be the case." 

Our silk was not sent to England to be sold, 
but to be manufactured, as it in fact was, and 
produced beautiful stuffs. Before it was sent 
to Manchester to be thrown and manufactured, 
and before it had been tried at the throwsting 
mill, it was shown by Mr. Vaughan, to an emi- 
nent silk broker in London, to be estimated. 
The highest price of raw silk in England was 
then22s\ sterling, ($4.84) a pound, and the low- 
est 9-5. equal to S1.98. Ours was estimated 
at from 13 to 16$., (from -22.86 to B3.52,) a 
very good price, for a beginning. The prices 
of raw silk were low at that time ; they have 
since considerably increased, as will be shown 
presently. 

Thus encouragement has not been wanting 
on the other side of the water. Our underta- 
king was much approved of in England, where 
raw silk is in constant demand. It was an- 
nounced in Parliament by the member from 



228 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

Liverpool. Dr. Lardner, in his excellent trea- 
tise on the origin, &c. of the Silk Manufacture, 
speaks of it in this manner, page 319, note K. 
London edition. 

"The project of rearing silk worms in the 
United States of America, has very recently 
been renewed, and a small package of silk, the 
result of their attempt, was, early in the pre- 
sent year, (1831) imported into Liverpool. 

"The President of the American Philosophi- 
cal Society, established in Philadelphia, Mr. 
Duponceau, has, for some time, been desirous of 
encouraging this branch of rural economy, and 
lately established a filature under the direction 
of a gentleman, who having conducted a simi- 
lar undertaking at Nimes in Franco is possess- 
ed of the requisite knowledge and experience. 

"The quality of the silk hitherto produced in 
Pennsylvania is said fully to equal that of Ben- 
gal : it promises to stand well the various pro- 
cesses of dyeing, throwing and weaving; but 
as might be expected in the commencement of 
such an undertaking, the operation of reeling 
has not been conducted with the requisite de- 
gree of skill. The attempt has hitherto been 
made on too small a scale for the projector to 
form any satisfactory opinion upon the issue as 
regards its profitableness; and it yet remains to 
be seen whether the Philadelphians are in pos- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 229 

session of facilities for this pursuit, which will 
counterbalance the high rate of wages prevalent 
throughout the state, and which would other- 
wise give a decided advantage in point of price 
to the raw silk of Italy and India, even in the 
markets of the United States." 

It is not a little astonishing that our first es- 
say — that American silk, reeled by raw hands 
from all sorts of cocoons, (for we purchased all 
that were offered, good or bad, even those 
brought by boys, who had fed their worms with 
rose leaves and the like,) should have met with 
such encouragement in England, the great mart 
for that kind of native produce. Nothing can 
be more encouraging if we consider it in a pro- 
per point of view.* 

As we have already observed, the prices of 
raw silk have considerably increased within the 
last ten years. All the nations of Europe, from 
north to south, now turn their attention to the 
manufacture of silk ; those whose country does 
not produce the raw material are obliged to 
purchase it. Hence arises the great demand, 
which can but go on increasing. By the last 
London prices current which have reached this 
country, (November, 1838,) we find that the 

* We were also frequently interrupted by visitors, so 
that we could not be constantly watching our reelers. 
21 



230 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

best Italian silk, (Novi,) now sells in England 
at 33s. (87.26) a pound, and the least esteemed, 
that of Turkey, at 20s. (84.40.) The best Chi- 
na silk sells at 27s. (about 6 dollars.) The best 
Bengal, which the English call Novi, to assimi- 
late it to that of a town in Italy, where the best 
raw silk is produced, brings, however, a less 
price than that of China, it sells for 21s. (84.62.) 
The two last mentioned silks are those from 
which is manufactured the pretended Ameri- 
can sewing silk, which we have before mention- 
ed. French raw silk is not mentioned in the 
London prices current, because the French do 
not export it. Their country does not even 
produce enough to supply their manufactures, 
and they are obliged to purchase a great deal 
of the foreign article. They purchase annu- 
ally of it, according to Count Lasteyrie, to the 
amount of thirty millions of dollars. Dr. Lard- 
ner seems to fear that the high price of labor 
in this country will prove an obstacle to the 
production of raw silk. The Doctor is mista- 
ken. It will, indeed, prove an obstacle, and a 
serious one to our silk manufactures, if we at- 
tempt them too soon, unless Congress will lay a 
duty of forty per cent, on all imported silk as 
they have on sewing silk ; but as to raw silk, 
there is not the least danger. 

In France female reelers, (and there are none 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 231 

others,) are paid from thirty-five to forty sous, 
(American cents,) per day. At the Philadel- 
phia filature they were well contented with 
twenty- five cents, and we might have had hun- 
dreds of them at that price. They were de- 
lighted with their occupation, which requires 
only attention, and their labor is performed 
in the open air, but sheltered from the rain and 
the too great effulgence of the rays of the sun, 
in the finest season of the year. They com- 
pared it with their work in the cotton facto- 
ries, where they are confined, in the midst 
of noise, and without the advantage of fresh 
air. Girls, for turning the crank, may be had 
at a lower price. Besides, fuel is abundant in 
this country, which it is not in Europe. It 
may be added that raw silk is of little bulk, and 
will cost but little in transportation. These 
considerations, to which others might be ad- 
duced are sufficient to convince us, that the 
price of labor in this country will be no obstacle 
to the production of raw silk. 

There is, therefore, no difficulty in the w T ay, 
except the want of proper instruction in the 
art of reeling. It has been seen that there is a 
great difference in the price of raw silk, as 
reeled in different countries. It varies now in 
London from $7.26, the price of the best Italian 
silk, to S4.40, the price of Turkish silk, the 



232 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

least esteemed on account of its imperfect pre- 
paration. Have those who pretend that we 
have attained the perfection of that art, by the 
invention of new machinery or the improve- 
ment of the old, and by the superior skill of our 
peelers, considered this vast difference of near 
fifty per cent, between the raw silk of one 
country and that of another? The silk reeled 
at our experimental filature at Philadelphia, was 
only estimated at London, in 1831, at something 
like a middle price between the highest and 
lowest, and yet it was reeled under the super- 
intendance of a professed teacher. What price 
do they suppose that silk reeled with their new- 
ly invented machines would produce in that 
capital? Why have they not tried it, to bring 
their assertions to this sure test? And if their 
improvements on the reel are so valuable, they 
must know that there are countries in Europe, 
where patents could be obtained, and high 
prices given for the patent right. Every body 
knows that there are consuls in this country 
from the European nations, on the watch for 
all improvements in the arts, who would not 
have failed to transmit an account of those won- 
derful machines, with the requisite drawings 
and models to their respective governments, 
who would have been glad to introduce them 
into the filatures of their country. But no- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 233 

thing of the kind has been tried; no raw silk 
reeled by the improved methods has been sent 
to Europe to try the markets and test its value; 
and our supposed improvements have remained 
unknown to the European world to this day. 
What would not France, for instance, have given 
for a reel so simple in its construction, that a 
girl, not over eight or ten years old, may, after 
a. little practice, work at the reeling, admira- 
bly well, * or for the machine which is said to 
reel and throw silk at the same time? If such 
a thing be possible, and has been actually effect- 
ed, (which we permit ourselves to doubt,) a 
large fortune surely awaits the ingenious in- 
ventor, should he know how to avail himself of 
his lucky invention. 

Besides, if we wish to derive profit from our 
silk worms and cocoons, it is not sufficient that 
we should reel our silk tolerably well, so that it 
should command, if not an inferior price, at 
least not a higher one than that of Turkey; we 
should emulate the filatures of Novi and Fos- 
sombrone in Italy, and those of Nismes and 
Alais in France. Those have risen to their 
perfection by gradual improvements in the art 

* Letter of Chauncey Stone, Esq., to the Committee of 
Congress on Agriculture, dated Burlington, New Jersey, 
February 1838. — Report of the Committee, April 20th, 
1838, p. 25. 

21* 



234 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

and in the machinery; but there are men in 
this country who contend that the same can be 
done by machinery alone, without the aid of 
experience or of practical knowledge. 

Since the power of steam has been successful- 
ly applied to manufactures, navigation, and lo- 
comotion by land, and since the most ingenious 
machinery has been invented and improved in 
aid of that power, the world, dazzled by the 
effects which those truly admirable inventions 
and improvements have produced, have been 
imbued with the opinion, that machinery moved 
by steam, or even without the aid of that power- 
ful auxiliary, can perform everything, without 
the aid of human hands, or, at least, with as 
little of it as possible; we need not, therefore, 
have recourse to the long and patient experi- 
ence of Europe, nothing is requisite but to in- 
vent new machines that will perform the work 
alone, propelled by the hand of a little boy, or 
a little girl, and the inventive genius of Ameri- 
cans has already been at work, and is said to 
have produced that effect! No one admires 
more than we do, the inventive genius of the 
people of this country. They have given too 
many proofs of it to the world to admit even the 
possibility of a doubt. But we will humbly 
contend that were every American a Franklin 
or a Fulton, they never will be able to effect 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 235 

this purpose. Nature has set hounds to the 
ingenuity of man, which he is not permitted to 
transgress. Machinery, however perfect, is 
an inanimate thing; it has no eyes, no ears, no 
senses hy which it can direct its motions, or 
change them at pleasure, it must invariably fol- 
low the direction that is given to it, either by 
a first impulse, or the directing hand of man. 
This is in no case more strongly exemplified 
than in that of the silk reel. 

The operation of reeling or spinning when 
applied to silk, consists of two distinct parts: 
1st. The drawing of the silk from the cocoons; 
2d. The winding it on the machine called the 
reel. This last part is performed almost entire- 
ly by the machinery, the first is exclusively 
done by the reeler, unaided by any kind of me- 
chanical power. It is in this part that consists 
the difficulty of the operation, and we do not 
hesitate to say that this difficulty can never be 
removed by any invention or machinery what- 
soever. It is physically impossible. 

Those who have seen the females of this coun- 
try draw silk from their cocoons to make their 
domestic sewing silk, fancy it very naturally to 
be one of the easiest things in the world, and 
to be hardly more difficult than the spinning of 
flax on the spinning wheel. They do not know 
in the first place, how much of the precious ma- 



236 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

terial is lost by their clumsy mode of operating, 
they do not know how much of it is to be lost 
in the subsequent operations, until it is manufac- 
tured into those elegant stuffs which cost this 
country from sixteen to seventeen millions of 
dollars per annum.* T hey think that sewing 
silk is the perfection of the silk manufacture, 
because they do not know that in Europe it is 
made of the silk of the refuse cocoons, which 
are not as susceptible of the perfection of reel- 
ing as the better ones. The thread used for 
sewing silk is a coarse thread, which will bear 
a strong pressure of the machinery in throwing, 
much more than the fine organ zines and trams, 
on which the greatest profits are to be made. 
Those who think so are not to be blamed for 
their ignorance, since, as we have said before, 
it prevails even in the silk growing and silk 
manufacturing countries of Europe. 

But the making of sewing silk, or even the 
reeling of raw silk for that purpose, is not the 
object that we mean to press upon this country. 
Compared to the others, it is trifling and incon- 
siderable. We wish to see the United States 
produce raw silk fit to be applied to the manu- 



*Tn 1835, silk was imported into the United States, to 
the amount of 16.597,983 dollars: in 1836, to that of 
25,033,200. — Report of the Committee on rfgricidtiire, 
20th April, 1S3S, p. I. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 237 

facture of those elegant stuffs we have spoken 
of, and to do it in the best, and, above all, in 
the cheapest manner, by saving the material as 
much as possible, without which no profits are 
to be expected. In this lies the great difficulty 
of the art of reeling, it consists in a good method 
of drawing the silk from the cocoons, which 
can be done only by skilful, dexterous and ex- 
perienced human hands. With this the ma- 
chinery has nothing to do, it does not assist the 
reeler in the least, and, we repeat it, no im- 
provement can ever be made upon it, that will 
produce that effect. 

The fibres of the cocoon are as fine as the 
finest human hair, and, of course, easily broken. 
They are not of the same degree of fineness 
through the whole ball ; it is well known to natu- 
ralists that there are three layers of silk in the co- 
coon, the first or uppermost is formed of the best 
and strongest silk, the insect being then in full 
vigor and strength ; after two or three days he 
becomes fatigued, his silk is thinner and less 
perfect, this forms the second layer; at last as 
he draws near his change into a chrysalis, he 
spins a still thinner silk, which generally falls 
with the chrysalis, to the bottom of the boiler, 
and sometimes in the best cocoons is entirely 
reeled off. Good reelers learn to distinguish 
those different layers by the sight and by the 



238 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

touch, while the cocoons are immersed in a ba- 
sin of hot water; and in some filatures, where 
the best raw silk is to be obtained, these differ- 
ent layers of silk are separately reeled, being 
destined for different kinds of manufactures. 
This is only said by way of example; there 
are a number of other details, which no less 
require the skill and dexterity of the reeler, 
and are beyond the power of machinery. 

As the perfection of raw silk principally de- 
pends on the equality of the threads, which must 
be of an equal fineness and strength through 
their whole length, that the weak parts may 
not be broken by the equal pressure of the 
throwing machine, which cannot be lessened or 
increased at pleasure ; it is necessary that those 
threads should consist, as nearly as possible, of 
an equal quantity of the delicate fibres of the 
cocoon. But the cocoons are not all of an equal 
size, and as we have said before the fineness of 
their silk varies ; it follows, that to preserve 
the equality of the thread, they must be fre- 
quently changed and their numbers increased 
or lessened ; of this, the reeler must judge, and 
her fingers as well as her eyes direct her in this 
most delicate operation. Besides this, many 
accidents happen in reeling, which she must 
learn how to remedy with dexterity and skill ; 
we shall only instance those entanglements of 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 239 

the silk threads, which are called marriages, 
which we shall explain hereafter, and which 
frequently happen from the nature of the ope- 
ration. It would be too long to detail here 
all that is to be done by a skilful reeler 5 but 
we have said enough to show that no machinery 
whatever can supply the place of her experi- 
enced hand ; and that she is not in the least 
aided by the machinery of the reel, which, as 
we have said, helps only to wind the threads 
which she draws from the cocoons, nor can it 
be improved to any other purpose. 

Where machinery cannot help, steam cannot, 
since every body knows that it only serves to put 
machinery in motion. We are not ignorant 
that steam has been applied with success in 
England, to almost every kind of manufactures, 
even to the art of weaving. But silk has re- 
sisted their efforts. The delicate material was 
injured by the rude and blind movement of the 
inanimate shuttle. The project, therefore, was 
laid aside, and we are convinced will never be 
resumed. We are speaking here only of weav- 
ing. In the operation of throwing, steam is 
successfully employed. That operation consists 
only in twisting. If the silk is well reeled, it 
is simple and easy, because the tender fibres of 
the material joined together by the reeler, have 
acquired sufiicient strength to resist the pres- 



240 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

sure, and the thread is drawn by the force of 
the machine to the part of it on which it is 
wound, and is not as in reeling, directed to it 
by hand, after being formed with discrimina- 
tion and care out of the fibres of the cocoons ; 
if on the contrary, it be ill reeled, the opera- 
tion of throwing is long, tedious and difficult, 
and sometimes impossible, because the threads, 
unequal in thickness, break at every minute, , 
and the machinery must stop to reunite them, 
whence arises great loss of time and that loss of 
the material which is called waste. Hence 
arise complaints of the manufacturer, the low 
prices of ill reeled raw silks, or their entire re- 
jection. The reputation of the country where 
the silk is reeled is also considerably injured. 

The power of steam is also employed in large 
filatures, in the operation of reeling; but its; 
use is confined to collateral objects; it supplies 
the basins of the reelers with pure distilled I 
water, always of an equal temperature, whichi 
is very important in reeling. It enables therm 
to change it at pleasure, so as to keep it clear 
from impurities. It lessens the expense of fuel,, 
and is a very great saving of trouble and time,, 
as the reelers are not obliged at every momentf 
to attend to their.fires to maintain an equal heat;: 
it also adds much to the brilliancy of the silk.. 
Such are the effects of the admirable machine 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 241 

of Mr. Gensoul, of which we shall give a des- 
cription in another chapter, accompanied with 
a drawing. But it does in no manner dispense 
with the skill of the reeler, as will be seen 
when we shall hereafter minutely describe the 
process of that operation. 

We have no doubt that when the art of reel- 
ing shall be sufficiently known and disseminated 
through this country, American ingenuity will 
find the means of further facilitating some parts 
of the labor and saving some part of the expense 
attending it, but until then we think that we 
must be content with learning and adopting the 
method pursued in those countries where the 
best raw silk is produced. 



22 



CHAPTER III 



OF THE FILATURE SYSTEM AND ITS INTRO- 
DUCTION INTO THIS COUNTRY. 

This system which is generally followed in 
Italy and France, has two objects in view: 

1st To provide constant and regular markets 
for cocoons, and thereby to give to the silk cul- 
ture that encouragement and support without 
which it can never be profitably pursued. 

2d. To secure and preserve the best method 
of reeling silk, and preparing it for exportation 
abroad or manufactures at home. 

The means employed for effecting these pur- 
poses is the establishment of filatures. 

Filature is a French word, which literal- 
ly means spinning. When applied to raw silk, 
it is synonymous to the word reeling. It is also 
used to signify an establishment where reeling 
is performed. This word is not to be found in 
any English dictionary that we know of, be- 
cause the English having no native silk, have 
no occasion for it. Dr. Lardner, however, 
makes use of it, and we believe some other 
modern English writers, who have treated of 
this subject. It has become familiar in this 



SILK CULTURIS'PS MANUAL. 243 

country, and we find it employed, not only in 
translations from foreign writers, and in original 
works on the silk culture, but in public docu- 
ments, and in the Reports of Committees to the 
National and State Legislatures. We consider 
it, therefore, as a legitimate term, and would 
feel ourselves at a loss, were we to attempt to 
substitute another for it. 

Filatures are of two kinds: 

1st. Large or regular filatures. 

2d. Domestic filatures. 

Large filatures, are establishments in which 
from twenty to one hundred reels are kept at 
work. A greater number has been tried but 
found too difficult to be managed. Sometimes 
those establishments belong to merchants or 
manufacturers, but in general they are owned 
by individuals who follow no other business; 
they sell their raw silk to the merchants or to 
the manufacturers, who either export it or get 
it thrown and dyed, and employ it in their man- 
ufactures. 

The owners of filatures buy their cocoons 
from the farmers. They have agents who travel 
about the country, and such is the want of that 
article, that they purchase or contract for the 
crops even before they are gathered. Cocoons 
are brought to them from more distant parts, 
and never fail to be purchased. We have said 



244 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

that the French do not export their raw silk, 
although there is at present no law to prevent 
it; on the contrary, they buy large quantities 
of it, particularly from Italy; but the Italians, 
who manufacture but little, export their silk to 
different countries, and principally to England, 
where, from its excellent quality and the per- 
fection of its reeling, it is held in the highest 
estimation. 

At the head of every large filature there is 
a person to superintend the 'establishment, call- 
ed a director, or overseer. It will be easily 
understood that the young girls at the reels are 
fonder of play than of work, and that if left to 
themselves, they will neglect their business and 
do their work in a careless and imperfect man- 
ner. But the profit of such an establishment 
depends on the quantity of silk reeled in a 
given space of time, and on the degree of per- 
fection with which the work is performed. To 
unite these two advantages, it is indispensably 
necessary that the reelers should be watched 
and constantly attended to during the whole 
time that they are at work. The younger ones 
are to be taught, and their faults corrected, and 
the more experienced need also to be con- 
stantly overlooked. From this constant super- 
intendence arises the perfection which is so 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 245 

much admired in the silks of Italy and France, 
and has raised their prices above all others. 

Those directors must be skilled in every 
branch of the art ; they are generally educated 
for that purpose and are well paid for their ser- 
vices. Their employment is sufficiently labo- 
rious. "A diligent director," says Mr. Tinelli,* 
ii will promote a spirit of emulation among the 
women employed in large filatures, and bring 
them to an equality with their instructor. The 
attention of the superintendent is constantly 
given to see that every reeler, winds always 
the same number of cocoons on each reel, that 
the thickness of the thread be always equal, 
the silk always clean and freed from all refuse, 
and the water always of the same temperature, 
and the same clearness. Every morning the 
superintendent makes his inspection of each fe- 
male reeler, as to the quantity of cocoons that 
each one has reeled, and the quantity of silk 
produced ; not a single ounce can escape his 
vigilant supervision. Further— all, or the 
greater part of the skeins are examined and 
proved, in order to ascertain the title\ and the 

*" Hints," p. 23. 

f In order to ascertain whether raw silk reeled for or- 
ganzine or tram of a certain number of cocoons, is really 
such as it pretends to be, a small skein of four hundred 

22* 



246 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

quality of the silk." Mr. Tinelli might have 
added many other things which are parts of the 
duties of the director of a filature, but which 
he did not, nor do we think necessary here to 
enumerate. We have said enough to show the 
importance of the office, and the labors that are 
attendant upon it. 

Thus these large establishments are admirable 
schools for the instruction of young females, who 
after having spent there a sufficient time to learn 
the business, (during which time they are paid 
for their labor,) return to their homes, where 
they avail themselves of the knowledge they 
have acquired, set up small filatures, and reel silk 
for their own account. In process of time, these 
domestic filatures extend all over the country, to 
which they are at last an immense and never- 
failing source of wealth. • 

Domestic filatures seldom consist of more than 
three reels, and sometimes of only one. They 
are worked on the farms by the farmers' wives 
and daughters, who have learned their art at a 
large filature ; their expense to begin with is 

turns of a machine, called a proof reel, is weighed, and 
the weight that it ought to have, being known, this is con- 
sidered a sufficient test. The weight expressed in de- 
tiiers, and doubled, is called the title of the silk, which 
is said to be of so many deniers. This is well known to 
all directors of filatures. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 247 

trifling ; they only need to have a reel and a 
basin, which are not very costly. There are 
some farms in France where the reeling is 
done by women who have not been taught in 
the large establishments, but their mothers and 
grandmothers were, at a time when the modern 
improvements had not been introduced : thus 
they follow the old routine and their silk is less 
perfect than that of the others; but the great- 
est number now consists of the pupils of the 
large filatures, who, being better instructed, of 
course produce the best silk. 

It will be thought, perhaps, that the large fil- 
atures monopolize the whole business, and that 
there remains but very little for the domestic 
filatures to do. But this is not the case. We 
are assured by the merchants of Lyons in the 
memorial above cited, (page 24,) that one-half 
of the silk reeled in France is done in the domes- 
tic filatures. Thus they mutually aid and sup- 
port each other as it is hoped will be the case in 
this country. In Piedmont, there is also a great 
number of domestic filatures, but they are kept 
under strict and severe regulations by the go- 
vernment, to secure the perfection of their 
work. We shall give hereafter, a transla- 
tion of the ordinance or regulations to which 
all filatures are subject, not with the view that 
it should be imitated in this country, but in 



248 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

order to show what are consider! in Europe as 
the principal requisites in the art of reeling. 
In France there are no such regulations, the 
reelers are left there to pursue their own in- 
terests in such manner as they think proper, as 
indeed must be the case in every free country. 

It is expected that in the United States the 
greatest quantity of raw silk will be reeled in 
the domestic filatures; we are speaking here of 
the north, for in the south, it is probable that 
the rich planters will have large filatures on 
their estates, to be worked by their female slaves, 
but in the other parts of the Union, a few large 
filatures will be sufficient to instruct the young 
reelers, and domestic filatures will enrich the 
industrious farmers throughout the country. 

The domestic reelers sell their raw silk in 
France to the manufacturers, and in Italy either 
to these or to the exporters, who are always 
ready to purchase it. It is paid for in cash, for 
a higher or a lower price, according to the 
quality of the silk, and the degree of perfection 
of the reeling. Good reelers soon acquire a 
reputation through the country. 

Such is the system which is adopted in Eu- 
rope, at least in those parts where the greatest 
profit is derived from the silk culture, and we 
do not know of a better one that we can recom- 
mend to this country. Large filatures are in- 



SILK CULTURISf 'S MANUAL. 249 

dispensable, and they must be placed under the 
care of competent directors. Otherwise, bad 
methods of reeling will be introduced and per- 
severed in, until, at last, the farmer will be dis- 
couraged ; he will neglect his silk worms, and 
end by cutting down his mulberry trees. If it 
be intended to make the culture of silk a source 
of wealth to the United States, they must be 
made sensible that the system of large filatures, 
is the only one that can produce that effect. 
We do not mean to exclude domestic filatures, 
we would, on the contrary, wish to see one on 
every farm, but without the instruction and 
support of the large establishments, we are fully 
convinced that they can never prosper. 

If we should have convinced our readers of 
the necessity of introducing this system into 
the United States, the question then occurs, 
"how is that to be done?" Those who think 
that there is no art in extracting raw silk from 
the cocoons, that the machine does everything, 
and that the methods used in this country need 
not be improved, will find no difficulty in an- 
swering it ; but we who think otherwise, find 
ourselves compelled to say, that "the art of 
reeling must first be acquired." 

Here a difficulty first presents itself, which 
we are far from considering as of little impor- 
tance. We have said that the English cannot 



250 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

teach us this art, because it is unknown among 
them, and whatever some of them may pretend, 
it is impossible that they should know it, for 
this very simple reason, — that there being no 
silk worms reared nor cocoons produced in 
their country, they never have reeled them- 
selves nor seen others reel, and therefore cannot 
be familiar with an art which can be acquired 
only by example and practice. It is certain that 
if this art were known to the English, it would 
greatly facilitate the acquisition of it in this 
country, as they speak the same language, and 
their habits, manners and customs do not ma- 
terially differ from those of the United States. 
Intercourse would then be more easy, a greater 
confidence would be inspired, and every thing 
would be facilitated by the magic of a kindred 
race, a common language and common ideas, 
besides that, from the great intercourse that 
exists between the two countries, quacks and 
pretenders would be more easily detected. 
But this must not be even thought of. When 
an art is known only to foreigners, it is from 
foreigners alone that it ought to be learned. 

The English, who understand their own in- 
terest as well as any nation that exists, are well 
convinced of this truth, and have acted upon 
it uniformly in circumstances precisely similar 
to this. Whenever they have wished to sup- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 251 

ply themselves with raw silk from their colo- 
nies or distant possessions, they have begun by 
establishing large filatures and placing skilful 
and intelligent foreigners at the heads of them. 
About a century ago, being desirous of obtain- 
ing silk from their then newly settled colony of 
Georgia, they established a large filature in the 
town, now city of Savannah, and placed it un- 
der the direction of an Italian, named Joseph 
Ottole?ighe. By this establishment an immedi- 
ate spur was given to the silk culture; mulber- 
ry trees were planted and cocoons produced; 
and history tells us that the filature flourished 
and sent considerable quantities of fine raw silk 
to England, until the revolution, which put an 
end to it. 

Mr. Ottolenghe, was a gentleman of educa- 
tion ; his talents were not confined to the know- 
ledge of his art. In the year 1771 he was 
elected a member of the American Philosophi- 
cal Society; in 1772 we find his name in the 
list of subscribers in the4th vol. of the first Ame- 
erican edition of s ' 4 Blaekstone ? s Commentaries 
on the Laws of England," printed by Robert 
Bell, in this city; he is there described as 
u Joseph Ottolenghe, Esq., Superintendent of 
the Silk Culture, Georgia." This shows that 
a director of a filature is not, as some persons 
have believed, or affected to believe, a mere 



252 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

operative, a journeyman reeler, to be paid at 
the rate of one dollar per day for his manual 
labor. Of this the author can speak from expe- 
rience. 

In their East India possessions the British 
had pursued the same system; the East India 
Company have established one or more large 
filatures in Bengal, under the superintendence 
of European directors, from which they now 
import annually, 1,500,000 pounds of raw silk.* 

Notwithstanding this, and all the attention 
and care which the company have devoted to 
the amelioration of their filatures, Mr. Bad nail, 
in his "View of the Silk Trade,"f tells us 
" the only silk calculated for the manufacture 
of the richest qualities of broad goods, is that 
produced in Italy, or in the southern provinces 
of France" This requires some observations. 

The silk of Bengal is not equal to that of this 
country. We have shown above, (page 226,) 
that American silk was considered in England 
as equal to that of Frioul in Italy and superior 
to that of Bengal. Yet that silk, as we have 
also said, Was made, (amidst numerous inter- 
ruptions from visitors,) of all sorts of cocoons^ 
promiscuously reeled, and not fit specimens of 

-• " Lardner on Silk," pp. 70 and 73. London ed. 
f "View," p. 16. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 253 

that branch of American produce. Therefore, 
we have reason to believe that when American 
silk comes to be properly selected and reeled, 
Mr. BadnalPs observations will not be applied 
to it. 

The English now import 1,500,000 pounds 
of raw silk from their filatures in Bengal, 
which at S3 per lb., would make S 4, 5 00,000. 
That is not enough for this country, when we 
consider that we pay annually to Europe from 
£16 to 17,000,000 for manufactured silk stuffs. 
But it must be considered, in the first place, 
that the business of producing raw silk is mo- 
nopolized by the East India Company, and that 
the hands which they employ are those of the 
rude natives, who with difficulty abandon their 
own bad practices. " Bengal raw silk/' says 
Larduer, (p. 73,) a is distinguished by two ap- 
pellations — country wound, and filatures; the 
former being furnished by native adventurers, 
who can employ none but the rudest methods 
for winding it; while the latter is produced 
by servants of the East India Company, and 
treated according to the most approved Eu- 
ropean methods." 

In this country there is no danger of the 

business being monopolized. If our system be 

adopted, large filatures may be established in 

every State, and the production of raw silk will 

23 



254 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

be proportionate. We have no rude ignorant 
natives to contend with 5 the American females 
are dexterous and intelligent — the imperfect 
methods at present used in Connecticut and 
elsewhere, will soon be abandoned, when it shall 
be found that the sale of the cocoons is far more 
profitable. Every thing, therefore, is in favor 
of these United States, and there are no bounds 
to the production of the valuable material. 

We think we have said enough upon this 
part of our subject. If it should be admitted 
that in order to make silk profitable to this coun- 
try, large filatures must be established 5 and for- 
eigners employed to direct them, at least until 
the art is so well known, that we may be able 
to do without them, the next question will be, 
in what manner is this system to be introduced, 
and how are we to begin ? 

We do not write this book to flatter the 
American people, and to feed them with delu- 
sive hopes of large immediate profits. There- 
fore we have forborne all calculations of the 
probable produce of an acre of ground planted 
with mulberry trees, of so many ounces of silk 
worms' eggs, or pounds of cocoons, or of such 
a quantity of raw silk exported for sale. Enough 
of this has been done by other writers, and we 
do not wish to imitate them. These things de- 
pend on too many circumstances to be the sub- 
jects of exact calculation. We have already 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 255 

said, and we repeat it with full confidence, that 
the introduction of the filature system will prove 
in the end an immense and a never- failing source 
of riches to the United States. But it must be 
purchased by temporary sacrifices. No profits 
are to be expected in the beginning. Indeed, 
it is our firm opinion, that this system can but 
with great difficulty be begun, without the aid 
of the National, or of the State Legislatures. 
We do not say, however, that it is impossible. 
There is nothing that cannot be achieved by 
the spirit of enterprize, aided and supported by 
patriotism and perseverance. 

Some political economists are of opinion, that 
every thing should be left to private enterprize 
and that it is alone adequate to the attainment of 
every useful object. "The aid of a govern- 
ment," say they, "should never be required, 
and if required, ought never to be granted." 
Whenever they attempt to reason upon the sub- 
ject, they never fail triumphantly to quote the 
answer of the French merchants to the minister 
Colbert, " Laissez nous fair e;" (Let us alone.) 
This trite saying, serves them in lieu of an ar- 
gument. 

It is true that Monsieur Colbert, a minister 
of Louis XIV., who was a sincere friend to com- 
merce and manufactures, and wished to pro- 
mote them by all the means in his power, once 



256 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

asked the merchants what he could do for 
their advantage, and that the only answer he 
received was "Let us alone/' But it is easy 
to understand the meaning of this answer, by re- 
curring to the state of things in France at that 
time. At that day the French government 
was in the habit of vexing and harrassing the 
merchants and manufacturers by edicts and or- 
dinances which they called Regulations, (Reg- 
lements,) by which they attempted to regulate 
all the details of their business, even the length 
and breadth of the stuffs that they manufactured. 
Sometimes this was done from fiscal motives, in 
order to increase the revenue, but sometimes, 
also, it was the result of ignorance, and a busy 
intermeddling with things that they did not un- 
derstand. The merchants were tired with 
those always troublesome and often injurious 
measures. They feared the government and 
its regulating system, and therefore they thought 
that the greatest favor they could obtain from 
the minister was that he should let them alone, 
and in this they acted wisely; but if they 
had had confidence in their government, they 
would not thus have rejected the offer of the 
minister, whose talents they had not yet expe- 
rienced; for he was, in fact, a man of great 
abilities, he raised the commerce and manufac- 
tures of France to the highest degree of pros- 






SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 257 



perity, which the bigotted Louis afterwards 
disturbed and nearly destroyed by the persecu- 
tion of the Protestants and the revocation of the 
edict of Nantz. In spite of let us alone, he laid 
out large sums of money for the introduction 
into France of improvements of the useful arts. 
The silk culture was the object of his particu- 
lar care. It was he who purchased of an Italian 
named Benay, the valuable machine for the 
twisting of raw silk called the throstle, or throw- 
sting mill, which but ten years ago was entire- 
ly unknown in this country, and is now, as we 
have said, employed in twisting foreign instead 
of American silk. He not only paid Benay 
liberally for his machine, but gave him a pen- 
sion for life and a patent of nobility.* Why 
did he not leave the silk manufacturers alone? 
Laissez nous f aire ! 

In these enlightened times, the merchants of 
France no longer say to their government, let 
us alone; they do not, like the political econo- 
mists we are speaking of, translate " Don't vex 
us" "Don't oppress us," into "Don't aid us," 
but they apply to the ministers for assistance, 
and do not apply in vain. Thus, in the year 
1828, the merchants of Lyons, in the memorial 
we have so often quoted, requested the appro- 

# Dictionaire Universel du Commerce, Verbo Orgamin. 
23* 



258 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 



priation of not less than 600,000 francs, 
(120,000 dollars) for introducing GensouFs 
steam apparatus into all the filatures of France, 
and the author of this work was informed when 
in Paris last autumn, that their prayer was im- 
mediately granted, and that amount was dis- 
tributed among all the silk growing departments, 
and this, not to introduce, but merely to im- 
prove the reeling of that material. 

Neither do the states of this Union seem to 
care much for Laissez nousfaire; for we find 
them everywhere by their legislative acts grant- 
ing bounties for the planting of mulberry trees, 
the production of cocoons, and of raw, and even 
thrown silk. We beg to be allowed to make 
here a short digression, by some observations on 
this system of bounties. 

As to the bounties for mulberry trees, we shall 
only say that the excitement now existing for 
the importation of those trees, particularly the 
multicaulis, the great quantity imported and 
the high prices given for them, would seem to 
render any other kind of encouragement use- 
less. Nevertheless, we would not object to it, 
if connected with a good system of filature ; for 
with filatures there can never be too many mul- 
berry trees in this country. Without them, 
tVk^y may serve to feed the stoves and the chim- 
neys in winter. 



SILK CULTURIST3 MANUAL. 259 

As to cocoons, the best and only fit encour- 
agement for that production is a good market. 
Without a market they must perish in the hands 
of the producer. And so they must, even if the 
highest bounties were given; for the farmer 
after receiving his bounty, will not be the bet- 
ter able to dispose of his produce by sale. The 
bounty which the law of Georgia allows is not 
less than fifty cents for every pound of cocoons ; 
this is a higher price than can be expected to 
be given in any market At that rate, the far- 
mer may afford to burn his cocoons. In Con- 
necticut, the bounty is fifteen cents, which is 
a tolerably good price. But after all, it will 
not help the sale of that article. We shall have 
plenty of cocoons, but no silk. 

As to bounties for raw silk, we observe with 
surprise that no attention is paid, anywhere, to 
the degree of perfection with which the silk is 
reeled, but the bounty is to be paid for all raw 
silk exhibited, without distinction or difference. 
Thus it is the quantity and not the quality that 
is encouraged and rewarded, and thus haste and 
inattention are called to the aid of want of skill 
and knowledge to produce imperfect work. 
The greatest enemy to improvement in reeling 
could not have devised a better scheme to ar- 
rest its progress and to perpetuate the bad 
methods which unfortunately prevail. 



260 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

This cannot have been the design of the wise 
and patriotic legislators who have proffered 
those bounties; but such will inevitably be their 
effect. It appears that they have imbibed the 
prejudices that too much prevail throughout 
this country, that raw silk is raw silk, however 
it may have been reeled, and that machinery 
can supply the w 7 ant of skill. Need we then he 
astonished when we see an honorable committee 
of the House of Representatives of the United 
States, in their report to Congress above cited, 
express it as their positive opinion, "that the 
dull, tedious method of reeling bij hand, which 
required a regular apprenticeship to learn, and 
years to acquire facility in the use of, has given 
way to the new patent reel, by which a person 
(even a child,) may learn in a few hours to reel, 
with great ease and expedition, a much more 
even thread than by the old process"? * 

There never w T as, in our opinion, a more 
complete delusion. We hope that when we 
come to describe the operation of reeling, we 
shall be able to convince our readers, if they 
are not already convinced, that no machinery 
whatever, were it invented by Newton, Frank- 
lin, or Laplace, can ever supply the want of 
the skill and knowledge which that operation 
requires. 

* Report of 20th April, 1838, p. 5. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 261 

On the subject of bounties for thrown silk, 
we have little to say. We do not, as we have 
already said, consider silk throwing as at all con- 
nected with agriculture; it belongs exclusively 
to mechanics and manufacturers. The United 
States are not yet prepared for this branch of 
business, and we have shown that the premature 
introduction of it into this country, has resulted 
in the encouragement of foreign raw silk, to the 
great detriment of the native production of the 
silk worm and cocoons. Thrown silk cannot at 
present be made an object of foreign commerce. 
It will be much more profitable to export our 
silk in the raw state than with the additional 
cost of throwing, which could not be compen- 
sated by the profits of the sale abroad, besides 
that, it is in Europe subject to a duty, which 
raw silk is not. We cannot therefore, approve 
of the system of bounties applied to this article. 

The necessity of the aid of governments to 
new and important undertakings, particularly 
to those on wiiich the future welfare of the 
state in a great measure depends, is therefore 
admitted everywhere in practice, whatever it 
may be in theory. It matters not whether it 
be in the shape of bounties, of protecting duties, 
or of money appropriations, all interests have 
claimed it in their turn. Commerce and manu- 
factures have had enough of it in the United 



262 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

States. It is now the turn of agriculture, the 
mother, the nurse, and the supporter of the 
two others. 

Our eyes are naturally turned to the national 
government for the aid which the silk culture 
indispensably requires ; but there is an objection 
in the way which, we fear, it will be difficult 
to get over. It is said that Congress has not 
the power to appropriate the public money to 
such a purpose, at least in the way that we 
would propose. Every body knows that in the 
year 1830, a bill was reported and recommend- 
ed by the Committee on Agriculture to the 
House of Representatives, providing for the in- 
struction of sixty young men in the art of reel- 
ing silk, so as to enable them to become directors 
of filatures. The author of this work was to 
have been their instructor. Thus, by employ- 
ing one foreigner in the first instance, the de- 
pendence upon others would have been at an end 
forever after. The bill, after depending in 
Congress during three sessions, was ultimately 
rejected in 1832, by a small majority. The prin- 
cipal ground of argument taken by the members 
opposed to it, was the unconstitutionality of the 
measure. It was principally opposed by the 
Southern members, many of whom were afraid 
that it would result in a system of high duties 
upon foreign silks. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 263 

On this question of unconstitutionality we 
are not competent to pronounce; but we may, 
perhaps, be allowed a few reflections. 

In the month of May, 1826, on a report of 
the Committee on Agriculture, the House of 
Representatives of the United States, passed a 
resolution, authorizing the Secretary of the 
Treasury, (who was then the Hon. Richard 
Rush,) to have prepared "a manual on the 
growth and manufacture of Silk." The Sec- 
retary employed a gentleman of Philadelphia 
to compile that manual, which he did in a vol- 
ume of rising two hundred pages, and was, we 
presume, liberally paid for his labor, in which 
he appears to have been employed upwards of 
eighteen months, for it was only in May 1828 
that the manual was presented to Congress, who 
ordered six thousand extra copies of it to be 
printed, not for the use of the members, but, as 
is stated in the " Report of the Committee on 
Agriculture," of the 20th of April, 1828, to 
which we have so often referred, for distribu- 
tion^ by which we understand, distribution 
among the people for general instruction. 

Here, then, are two sums of money (no mat- 
ter what the amount was) paid out of the pub- 
lic funds, one to the author of the manual, the 



Report," p. 5. 



264 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

other to the printer of the six thousand copies 
for the instruction of the people. 

Now we would ask, in all humility, what is 
the difference hetween the appropriation or 
payment of these two sums for the instruction 
of the people in matters relating to the growth 
and manufacture of silk, and that of 40,000 dol- 
lars, which, by the silk bill above mentioned, 
and which was deemed to be unconstitutional, 
was to have been applied to their instruction in 
the art of reeling and preparing silk for expor- 
tation. In both cases, the money was, or was 
to be applied to the purchase of knowledge. 
We are at a loss to know why that knowledge 
might be constitutionally purchased in the 
shape of a book, and not in any other form ? 

Will it be said that in one case the sum was 
comparatively small, and in the other more 
considerable ? But it seems to us that the ques- 
tion does not turn upon the amount, but upon 
the principle. The appropriation of one dol- 
lar, if not warranted by the constitution, seems 
to us to be as much a breach of that compact, 
as that of one million. 

Must we then conclude that Congress, in 
purchasing silk manuals to diffuse instruction 
among the people, violated the constitution of 
the United States? We indignantly repel this 
supposition ; but we are not so sure that if they 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 265 

had passed the silk bill, they would have been 
guilty of a breach of the Federal compact. 

We do not profess to be learned in the con- 
stitutional law of the United States ; we can 
only call to our aid our plain unsophisticated 
common sense, when we attempt to explain 
its text. For instance, we might, perhaps, say 
that by that instrument, the power of regula- 
ting commerce with foreign nations is given to 
Congress in express terms. We might ask 
whether the exportation of raw silk to foreign 
countries, is not a branch of that commerce, 
which Congress is authorized to regulate ? And 
whether precautionary regulations to prevent 
fraud and imposition upon foreigners, and to 
give a sure and a permanent value to that 
branch of commerce, are not within the limits 
of their authority? But we think we have said 
enough upon a subject on which we do not 
think ourselves competent to decide. 

The fate of the silk bill is truly remarkable. 
In 1830 and ? 31, it is received by Congress 
with apparent enthusiasm. In 1832, it is re- 
ported to the House with a few amendments by 
the Committee of the Whole, and the next day 
it is suddenly rejected in the same House by a 
small majority, as it would seem, on the ground 
of unconstitutionality, though it is not certain 
that it was negatived on that principle. In 
24 



266 SILK CULTUPJST'S MANUAL. 

1838, unconstitutionality is no longer spoken off 
the Committee on Agriculture, on the contrary, 
in an elaborate report, tell Congress that at the 
time when that bill was proposed, and with the 
lights then possessed, it was " wise, prudent, 
and important" ; but that " the subsequent in- 
genuity and experience of the American peo- 
ple, render it unnecessary."* 

We have sought in vain for the proofs of that 
increased knowledge and experience. We have 
looked in vain into the London prices current, 
to discover the prices at which American raw 
silks were quoted. They are not even named. 
At home, we have seen nothing but sewing silk 
sold as American, but made of the foreign raw 
material. Wc must acknowledge that we do 
not perceive that improvement, which is 
thought to require no aid, either from the go- 
vernment or from any other source. 

We are still of opinion, that unless there be in 
the constitution an insurmountable obstacle, the 
national government is the authority to be look- 
ed to in the first instance ; because the object to 
be attained is not only a perfect but an uniform 
method of preparing the raw silk of this coun- 
try, whether for exportation or manufacture, 
and to prevent, as much as possible, the mono- 

* Report, p. 6. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 267 

poly of the business by states or by individuals. 
It is necessary, also, to give a general impulse 
to the silk culture throughout the Union. 

If, however, the general government, for 
reasons that we cannot foresee, should decline 
giving its support to this most important and 
truly national object, the next to be looked to, 
will be the Legislatures of the different states. 

Here we must not expect the same advantages 
that would have resulted from the action of the 
general government. If the silk bill had passed 
in the form in which it was proposed, we should 
be no longer under the necessity of employing 
foreigners. Sixty young Americans would 
now be fit to be employed as directors of fila- 
tures. There would be enough to supply the 
capitalists in the north, and the planters in the 
south. Their system, their method, and mode 
of proceeding would be the same. There 
would be no difference between the raw silk 
of Boston and that of New Orleans. But it 
cannot now be the case. One state may em- 
ploy a Frenchman, another an Italian, ano- 
ther, perhaps, a Chinese. One may employ 
a skilled director, another a quack or a pre- 
tender, and these will not fail to present them- 
selves; several of them have already appeared, 
and some states have been led by them into 
measures that have had no success. The silk 



268 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

bill, by employing one well recommended for- 
eigner for two years, was intended to prevent 
the necessity of having recourse to them for- 
ever after. Its failure, therefore, is justly to 
be regretted. 

But this is not all. The states will naturally 
act for their own interest, and not think them- 
selves bound to provide reelers or directors of 
filatures for the whole Union. They will cause 
no more to be instructed than they will want 
for their own filatures; the foreign director, 
himself, will not be very much disposed to com- 
municate his art, except to the female reelers, 
who cannot prove to him dangerous rivals; that 
art may and will, it is true, gradually make its 
way through different parts of the country: 
but the progress will be slow, and the success 
various; in the mean time, the state will acquire 
a reputation abroad for the perfection of its raw 
silk, and it will be difficult to draw the business 
from that channel, Happy the state that will 
first begin ! 

But the states may not be sensible of their 
interest, or will be unwilling to lay out the 
money that the first experiments will require. 
The business will then necessarily fall into the 
hands of companies or of individual capitalists. 
Here a narrower system must be expected to 
be pursued; monopoly will be the aim of every 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 269 

one, and the knowledge of the art will be still 
more concentered in a small number of persons. 
Every one will work for himself; foreign pre- 
tenders will abound in the country, uniformity 
in the process of reeling must not be thought 
of, and every thing will be done at a venture. 
Nevertheless, some filatures, like those of Novi 
and Fossombrone in Italy, and Nismes and Alais 
in France, will, in time, acquire a high reputa- 
tion abroad, and the others will do as well as 
they can. Upon the whole, whether the thing 
be first begun or set on foot by the government 
of the United States, by that of the particular 
states, or by individuals, we do not hesitate to 
say that the system of filatures, in whatever man- 
ner it may be introduced into this country, is 
the only one by which it may expect to derive 
profit from the silk culture. 

We cannot conclude this chapter better than 
by inserting here some part of the introduction 
of Mr. Pitaro to the third part of his excellent 
work on the silk culture, in which he treats, 
much too briefly, of the art of reeling silk from 
the cocoons. It will enforce what we have said 
on the importance and the difficulty of that art. 

"We ""have already/' says the celebrated 

author, "completed the greatest part of our 

labors, we have shown how the silk culture 

might be carried on with the greatest success, 

24* 



270 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

but of what avail will be a multitude of cocoons, 
if we do not know how to extract the silk from 
them, with the intelligence, economy, and skill 
which the various kinds of manufactures re- 
quire? For what purpose shall I have written 
the above treatise, if, contented with raising 
silk worms and producing cocoons, you do not 
know how to unwind these with skill, care and 
economy, to draw and join together into even 
threads the delicate fibres, and to do it with 
the perfection required by the silk manufac- 
turers? It is only when the silk possesses the 
qualities and proportions required for the dif- 
ferent tissues, that the reelers are applauded 
for their labor, and both the seller and the pur- 
chaser find their profit in it. Laborious and 
intelligent men know how to acquire wealth, 
the indolent, on the contrary, the enemies of 
mankind, the apologists of falsehood, those stupid 
beings, who only know how to waste the pro- 
ductions of the earth, aided by the skill and 
ingenuity of man ; those, we say, will only reap 
poverty and disgrace, and contempt will be 
their portion. " 

Thus far Mr. Pitaro* We will now, like him, 
proceed to the practical part of our subject, 

Filatures ! filatures ! that is the constant 
burden of our song. 






CHAPTER IV 



OF FILATURES, THEIR EXTERIOR FORM AND 

INTERNAL ARRANGEMENTS AND OTHER 

MATTERS RELATING TO THEM. 

We have already explained the origin and 
various meanings of the word filature ; we have 
shown the difference between the large estab- 
lishments called by that name, and those which 
are denominated domestic^ and which are often 
confined to the management of one single reel ; 
we have also made known the nature of the of- 
fice and the various duties of a director, where 
the number of reels requires that such a person 
should be employed ; we shall not, therefore, 
repeat what we have said upon these subjects. 

The object of the present chapter is princi- 
pally confined to the place and the buildings 
in which large filatures are to be carried on : to 
their external disposition and internal arrange- 
ments. Much of what we shall say on these 
subjects, will apply also to domestic filatures, 
and the differences that may exist shall be pro- 
perly noticed. It must not be forgotten that it 
is from large filatures only that we may expect 
to have well instructed and skilful domestic 
reelers, and therefore that those important es- 



272 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

tablishments require our first and our most par- 
ticular attention. 

The buildings or erections in which the reel- 
ing of silk is performed are not exactly on the 
same plan in Italy and France, at least in the 
parts of those countries that we have seen. In 
the north of Italy those buildings are walled on 
all sides.* They are in" the form of an oblong 
square, two stories high: on the ground floor 
are the reels and the reelers, above are kept 
the cocoons, with the spare reels and other 
apparatus not in immediate use. 

An American gentleman,! who was at Sa- 
vannah thirty- live years ago, when the filature 
erected there by the British, under the di- 
rection of M. Ottolenghe, and, of course, on 
the Italian model, was still standing, though it 
was no longer used for its original purpose, but 
was a ball or assembly room, and sometimes 
served as a place of worship, has been kind 
enough to favour us with a description of that 
building, as far as his memory could serve him. 
It was a two story building, about sixty feet in 

*Dr. Lardner, in his valuable work on the origin, dec. 
of the silk manufacture, (page 182, London edition,] 
says, that a building designed for a filature, should be 
open on one side and walled on the other. We have 
never seen any of that description. 

f William Ladd, Esq., of the state of Maine. 






SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 273 



length, and thirty feet wide; the roof project- 
ed slanting on all sides, to protect it against the 
rain. From this description we presume that 
it must have held from twenty to twenty-four 
reels, at least it might have contained so many 
with ease, (ten or twelve on each side,) but 
only twenty if a part of the room was reserved 
for the director, and the women and children 
employed in sorting the cocoons, taking off the 
floss, and other accessory or preparatory mat- 
ters, which could not be done by the reelers 
without interrupting their work. We do not, 
because the room could contain so many reels ac- 
tually employed, necessarily presume that there 
were so many used, because that must have de- 
pended on the quantity of cocoons with which 
the filature was supplied. 

We find recorded in history, that in the 
three first years of that establishment, that is, in 
the third year, there was only eight pounds of 
raw silk exported to England, which were 
thrown and manufactured there, and a dress 
made for the Queen, who was graciously pleas- 
ed to wear it in public. This small quantity is 
not astonishing; the colony had just begun to 
be settled, the mulberry trees had hardly had 
time to bear a sufficient quantity of leaves, and 
the inhabitants, then, must have been very few 
in number. We learn from the same source, 



274 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

that in the course of seventeen years, (from 
1755 to 1772,) there were exported to England 
8829 pounds of raw silk, which, on an average, 
makes a little more than 500 pounds a year. 
This will appear very little when compared 
with the quantities of raw silk annually pro- 
duced in filatures of the same size in Europe ; 
but when we consider how small was the popu- 
lation of Georgia at that time, we ought rather 
to wonder at their having done so much. It is 
probable that in the first years much less, and 
in the last much more than the average quan- 
tity above mentioned, was reeled in that estab- 
lishment. It is evident that if the Revolu- 
tion had not intervened and put an end to the 
silk culture and to the reeling and exportation 
of raw silk in that colony, Georgia would be, 
at this time, a great and a rich silk growing 
country. Their example is well calculated to 
encourage us; if they did so much with such 
limited means, what cannot be expected from 
the United States in their present condition, 
with a numerous population and large capitals, 
their numbers and prosperity increasing every 
year, they must soon become, as we have often 
predicted before, a rich silk growing and silk 
exporting, and, at last, a rich silk manufactur- 
ing country. 

The French filatures are on a different plan 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 275 

from those of Italy. Like them they are in the 
form of an oblong square, but open on all sides, 
and surrounded only by a low wall of masonry, 
about four feet or four feet and a half high, 
with openings at convenient distances for pass- 
ages. The roof, which projects, as in the Ital- 
ian buildings, is supported by strong, square, 
stone pillars or columns. Thus the air is at all 
times freely admitted, which is of great import- 
ance to good reeling. The building has two 
stories, both very lofty. In the upper story, 
the provision of cocoons is laid on shelves, of 
which there are several tiers, above one another. 
In the winter, the building is closed by wooden 
sliders; in the reeling season, there are glazed 
sliding panes, which may be raised or let down 
at pleasure, and serve to guard against the rain 
in case of sudden gusts ; fur no reeling is per- 
formed in damp or rainy weather. There are 
no cellars ; the fuel is generally kept in an ad- 
joining or neighboring tenement, or under a 
shed. The buildings are commonly on the es- 
tate of the owner, in the country or in the sub- 
urbs of a town, and not far from his mansion, 
that he may the more easily attend to what is 
doing there. 

We will not undertake to decide on the re- 
spective merits of those two modes of erecting 
filatures. Perhaps the climate or the tempe- 



276 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

rature of the country, may require the adoption 
of the one in preference to the other. What 
is certain is that silk is equally well reeled in 
Italy and in France. 

The things that are indispensably required 
in a filature, are the free admission of light 
and dry air, and to be guarded against sudden 
changes in the weather. In this country, where 
the temperature is so variable, such sudden 
changes are particularly to be feared and 
guarded against. 

According to Mr. Pitaro, the best exposure 
for a filature is north and south, as the clearest 
light is thereby obtained. The next best is 
south east and south west. It will be easily un- 
derstood that we speak of the exposure of the 
long sides. 

Whatever be the length of a filature, its 
breadth should be such, that reels may be 
placed on each side with convenient intervals 
and passages. The Piedmont reel is six feet 
four inches long, and two feet If inch wide. 
It should be placed with the great wheel or 
hasp, towards the wall. A passage of two feet 
should be left between each reel, a small pas- 
sage of eighteen inches between the wall and 
each row of reels. These passages being only 
for convenience, they may be increased or di- 
minished according to the size of the filature. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 277 

A space should be left at one end, for the ac- 
commodation of the women and children who 
sort the cocoons, strip them of their floss, &c, 
and if possible, a small railed place for the di- 
rector to sit in, with a table for him to write 
on and take notes of the quantity of silk reel- 
ed, &c. These conveniences add much to the 
facility of the business. 

Our experimental filature in 1830, and '31, 
was under a temporary shed, erected for that 
purpose, at the end of a lot about 22 feet wide, 
adjoining the house No. 148, in Pine street, 
between Fifth and Sixth streets in this city. It 
contained ten reels, seven of which were placed 
breadthwise, on one side, and three lengthwise 
on the other. It had no upper story. It was 
guarded against the rain and the too great efful- 
gence of the sun's rays by a wooden slider 
which might be raised or let down at pleasure. 
It might have been more convenient, but we 
aimed at economy, and had not sufficient room. 
We wanted a place in which to keep the co- 
coons, which we had to bring from a distance, 
and it occasioned a great loss of time. 

We think that a large filature with all its 
conveniences should not be of less than twenty 
reels. Mr. Pitaro speaks of a filature of four- 
teen reels with a steam apparatus; we have 
never seen any of less than twenty; this, how- 

25 






878 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

ever, is only a question of expense, of which 
every one can judge for himself. 

We have not had an opportunity to see domes- 
tic filatures in ltal\ : we have only seen the large 
filatures at Novi, therefore we can say nothing 
of the manner in which the farmers proceed in 
that country. In France they generally reel 
under sheds, which, in winter, serve them for 
other purposes. If good merchantable raw silk 
is wished to be produced, reeling should never 
b e J one i n a close room ; of course never in win- 
ter. It may be done in the proper season in a 
w ell aired and well lighted room on the ground 
floor. At Xismes, and other towns in France, 
where there are large filatures, when good reel- 
c rs leave the establishment by getting married 
or otherwise, the owners give them every day 
a certain quantity of cocoons to be reeled off, 
which they do at their own houses. The 
er finds the reel, the basin, the cocoons and 
the coals. They are paid by the day and not 
by the job. As they are known to be excellent 
reelers, the quantity of silk reeled Is not so much 
looked to as the quality. They generally do 
the work in a lower room of their houses, well 
aired and lighted. 

We shall not describe here the machinery, 
apparatus, and various implements employed 
in a filature tor the purpose of reeling: we will 
treat of them hereafter. 



CHAPTER V. 



OF THE PREPARATIONS FOR REELING. 

These consist of two things: 

1st. Taking off the floss from the cocoons, 

2d. Sorting and separating the cocoons. 

When cocoons are brought to market or are 
purchased from the farmers or growers at their 
houses, they are generally, and we might say 
always sold with the floss on, the farmers only 
pick it out when they intend to reel the silk 
themselves; it is therefore necessary, before 
the cocoons are brought to the boiler to be reel- 
ed off, that they should be carefully stripped 
of the floss or tow silk in which they are en- 
veloped. This is an easy task, and may be per- 
formed by boys or girls. The cocoons should 
be handled gently, so as not to flatten or bruise 
them, which would be very hurtful, and the 
floss must be picked off from them so as to leave 
them perfectly clean. The floss should not be 
thrown away, but carefully gathered and kept 
for sale or for use. We shall show hereafter in 
what manner it is to be employed. 

The separation or sorting of the cocoons re- 
quires particular attention. 



280 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

Among a mass of cocoons there are some 
which cannot be reeled without much difficul- 
ty, and others which cannot be reeled at all. 
There are also some the silk of which is pre- 
ferred in the markets of Europe to that of 
others, and commands a higher price. It is, 
therefore, necessary to sort them before reeling, 
and keep them separate. 

The principal differences between cocoons, 
are in their color and their quality. Another 
difference has been suggested by some foreign 
writers; it is that between the soils and climates 
where the silk worms have been reared. This 
difference cannot be of any great consequence 
in Europe, where the eggs and the cocoons 
generally originate in the same place or district, 
at least in the same country where the silk is 
reeled. But in the vast territory of the United 
States, there is such a variety of climates, that 
this difference may not be without importance. 
Ten pounds of cocoons are required in Europe 
to make a pound of raw silk ; in Pennsylvania, 
eight pounds have been found sufficient. We 
have even drawn one pound of silk out of 
much smaller quantities of cocoons, particular- 
ly from South Carolina and Louisiana, but as 
these were only experiments on a very small 
scale, we abstain from giving particulars, which, 
perhaps, would not be easily believed, and at 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 281 

any rate cannot be considered as general rules. 
Farther experiments will decide how far it is 
necessary that cocoons from different states 
should be separated from each other before 
reeling. We will at present only speak of 
their differences of color and quality. 

1st. Of color. 

The principal colors of cocoons are white 
and yellow. The white is everywhere pre- 
ferred, and the silk of white cocoons, when 
well reeled, commands the highest price. We 
cannot too strongly recommend preserving only 
white cocoons for reproduction ; by that means 
all other colors would in time disappear. 

There are two shades of yellow cocoons, the 
deep and the pale yellow. The latter are pre- 
ferred. In most filatures, however^ in Europe, 
they are reeled together. There is a third 
species, which is rare in Europe, but appears 
common in this country, at least we have had 
many of them in our experimental filature, and 
reeled them separately. They are of a pale 
yellow, strongly tiriged with light green; we 
therefore called them green cocoons. In Europe 
we have always seen them reeled with yellow 
cocoons. In the boiler they change to a dusky 
white. 

But there is another species of cocoons which 
25* 



282 SILK CULTUK1STS MANUAL. 

we have never seen or heard of anywhere hut 
in the United States. They come from Mis- 
sissippi and Alabama. They are of a dirty 
brown inclining to red, which made us call 
them, at first mud colored, afterwards, however, 
we changed their name to coffee colored, as they 
are of the color of ground coffee. Under that 
name, we sent silk reeled from them to England 
and France. In the latter country no observa- 
tion was made on them ; of the green cocoons 
it was said that the specimens we sent, reeled 
off very well, though they were pointed at the 
ends. Mr. Molyneux, our throwster at Man- 
chester, wrote of the two last mentioned species 
of cocoons, as follows, "the straw, (he meant 
the green,) and coffee colors take the dye as 
well as the yellow and white ; still it must be 
remembered that a prejudice will naturally 
exist for some time in favor of the latter;" from 
which we infer that the silk of those two species 
of cocoons was not known in England in 1831, 
when Mr. Molyneux wrote. We leave to fu- 
ture experiments to decide whether these two 
last colors, the coffee color, particularly, are to 
be separately reeled, or whether, as in Europe, 
the white and yellow only should be kept sepa- 
rate from each other. 

2d. Of quality. 
The first division of cocoons, in respect to 



SILK CULTURIsrS MANUAL. 283 

their quality, is into good and bad. The good 
cocoons are those which can be reeled without 
any extraordinary trouble. These are divided 
into two classes, the first and the second, which 
goodreelers will keep separate from each other, 
because the silk that they respectively produce, 
is not equally valuable. 

The first class of good cocoons is known by 
their firmness and hardness and the fineness of 
their texture, the second class has less of those 
qualities, which an experienced reeler will 
easily discern. We have not recommended 
this separation to the farmers, who reel their 
cocoons themselves, because it is only done in 
great filatures where the very best silk is to be 
produced. 

The bad cocoons are of two kinds, those 
which cannot be reeled at all, and those which 
may be reeled, but with more or less difficulty, 
so that they should not be mixed in reeling with 
the good cocoons. 

The cocoons which cannot be reeled, are: 

1st. The perforated cocoons, that is to say, 
those from which the moth has escaped, leaving 
a hole that interrupts the continuity of the 
thread. 

2d. The thin cocoons, the texture of which 
is loose, and yields to the slightest pressure. 
Sometimes the texture of these cocoons is so 



284 SILK CULTURIsrs MANUAL. 

loose, that they are transparent, and are, to a 
good cocoon like gauze to satin. These are 
spongy, and when by negligence or inadvertence 
they happen to be put into the boiler with good 
cocoons, they imbibe the water and fall to the 
bottom. They must then be taken out, when 
discovered, and put aside, to be afterwards 
dealt with as waste silk. 

The bad cocoons which can be reeled, are of 
various kinds ; they are reeled with much dif- 
ficulty, and never so perfectly as the good ones, 
therefore, their silk is only employed in the 
manufacture of coarse articles. They are : 

1st. The double cocoons, called dupions, of 
which we have spoken above, (p. 118.) It is 
clear that their silk often intertwines, and 
therefore breaks in reeling, which gives a great 
deal of trouble to the reeler. It is because of 
this extraordinary difficulty, that we have re- 
commended to the farmers who reel their silk 
themselves, to separate these from the other 
bad cocoons ; in large filatures the experience 
of the reelers makes this unnecessary. 

2d. Spotted cocoons, that is to say, those in 
which the chrysalis has died from some sick- 
ness, so that by its bursting or otherwise, the 
silk has become soiled, and the cocoons covered 
with black or colored spots. 

3d. Cocoons that are otherwise defective, ill- 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 285 

shaped, or imperfectly formed, so that it may- 
be easily seen that they cannot be reeled off 
freely. It is sometimes the case with those that 
are pointed at one end, but it is not so general- 
ly ; the point must be very sharp to place them 
among the bad cocoons, and we do not think 
that it should be often done. We have seen 
pointed cocoons in general reel off very well. 

4th. The cocoons called sattiny. They are 
of a coarse tissue, furzy like flannel, and the 
surface shines. We have seen some, but not 
many in this country, neither are they numer- 
ous in Europe. 

The French writers have given names to the 
different sorts of cocoons. They talk of Chi- 
ques, Choquettes, Cocalons, Soufflons, and a 
variety of other denominations, which in our 
opinion only serve to perplex. We have not 
thought proper to adopt this nomenclature. 

The bad cocoons which can be reeled, are 
generally reeled together; those which cannot 
are considered as waste silk, and are carded 
and spun, as will be hereafter mentioned. 



CHAPTER VI 



OF THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF RAW 
SILK. 

Before we enter fully upon this subject, 
some preliminary matters require to be ex- 
plained. 

Equality in the threads is the principal re- 
quisite in all raw silks that are spun at the reel, 
by which it is meant that all the threads shall 
consist in their whole length, as nearly as possi- 
ble, of the same number of the fibres of the co- 
coon. But those fibres are so fine and so deli- 
cate, that it is impossible in drawing and joining 
them together to preserve exactly the same 
number of them, and a certain approximation 
is all that can be obtained. Therefore, when 
we speak of raw silk, we do not say that it is 
composed of exactly so many fibres, but of 
one to two or three, three to four, four to 
five, five to six, six to eight, eight to ten, 
ten to twelve, and as we increase in numbers, a 
greater latitude is given; thus we say twelve to 
fifteen, and fifteen to twenty cocoons, (one fibre 
from each cocoon,) and when we come to 
coarser silks, we say from twenty to thirty, 
thirty to forty, &c. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 287 

This equality is required, not only for the 
sake of the beauty of the thread, which, how- 
ever, depends greatly upon it, but also, and 
principally, to prevent its constantly breaking 
in the operation of throwing, which occasions 
a great deal of waste, which, as we have shown, 
adds a great deal to the labor and expense, and 
more or less deteriorates the beauty and quality 
of the silk. The operation of throwing or 
twisting is all done by machinery, a blind in- 
strument, the force of which cannot be increased 
or moderated at pleasure. Therefore the same 
force which will only give the required twist 
to the strong parts of a long thread will break 
the weak ones, and what it does not break it 
will either twist too much or too little, accord- 
ing to the strength or weakness of the thread. 
For all raw silks do not require to be twisted 
alike ; organzine, for instance, requires a strong- 
er, and tram a weaker twist, and, in general, 
the strength of the twist is suited to the pro- 
portion required for the kind of stuff into 
which the material is to be manufactured, 
some requiring a very slight and others a 
very strong twist. Therefore the greatest 
attention is to be paid in reeling to the equali- 
ty of the threads, and it is in throwing alone 
that it can be accurately known by the great- 
er or lesser quantity of waste, how far that 



288 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

equality has been preserved. The value of 
raw silk in the market depends much on the 
reputation of a filature, in, this respect. 

Mr. Boucher, in his letter to the Chevalier 
de Pougens, which will be found in the appen- 
dix, seems to be of opinion that it is easier to 
reel silk from 12 to 15 and 15 to 20 cocoons, 
than organzine from 3 to 4 and from 4 to 5. We 
have had a conversation with him, when lately 
at Paris, upon this subject. He meant only to 
say that the instruction of female reelers should 
not be hastened, by making them begin with 
reeling fine organzines, which might appear 
beautiful to the eye, and yet be defective; that 
though not so necessary, it was more dfiiicult to 
preserve equality out of a great than out of a 
small number of cocoons, and that by reeling 
out of a large number, and striving to maintain 
equality as much as possible, they would be 
better prepared to reel oifthe fine threads, which 
he admitted, was really the most difficult part 
of the art, and that which requires the greatest 
skill, care, and attention, as well on account of 
the fineness of the threads, and the greater de- 
gree of equality that was to be preserved, as 
because they required a stronger twist in throw- 
ing than any other kind of raw silk. We fully 
agree with him in this opinion. 

We will now proceed to the immediate sub- 
ject of this chapter. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 289 

We have, in the preceding chapter, divided 
cocoons into four classes : 

1st. Good or perfect cocoons of the first class. 

2d. Good cocoons of the second class. 

3d. Bad or imperfect cocoons which can be 
reeled. 

4th. Bad cocoons which cannot be reeled. 

It is of the silk of the two first of those class- 
es of cocoons, that are made the elegant stuffs 
for which the United States pay so dearly, and 
for w 7 hich it is the object of this treatise to en- 
able them to pay, by supplying the nations from 
which they are purchased with the raw mate- 
rial, properly prepared and fit to be employed 
in their various manufactures. The profits to 
be derived from this source depend upon the 
degree of perfection in the art of reeling which 
shall have been attained in this country. 

The qualities of raw silk to be produced from 
these two classes of cocoons, are of three deno- 
minations. 

The first is called organzine, the second 
tram, and the third singles. We place this the 
last, because it is not in so great demand as the 
two others. 

The silks, however, receive these names only 
by a kind of courtesy, because they are not en- 
titled to them until they have passed through 
the throwing mill, where organzine may be 
26 



290 SILK CULJURIST'S MANUAL. 

converted into tram and singles into organzine. 
But this only happens in cases of necessity. If 
the silk has been properly reeled, it is almost 
always applied to the use for which it is intend- 
ed, and from which it receives its name. Man- 
ufacturers, therefore, give orders to filatures 
for so many bales of organzine, tram, or singles, 
meaning of the kind of raw silk intended to re- 
ceive those forms in the operation of throwing. 

Organzine is the perfection of raw silk. It 
is reeled only out of the first class of the best 
cocoons. It is that for which the highest prices 
are given in the European markets, but always 
in proportion to the intrinsic quality of the silk 
and the perfection of the reeling. Dr. Lard- 
ner* speaks of a quality of organzine, made in 
the contiguous departments of Ardeche and 
Gard, in France, which sells commonly for 50 
francs, (10 dollars,) and some times as high as 
150 francs, (30 dollars) a pound. It is em- 
ployed in Normandy, in the making of fine 
laces. We do not know that it is produced 
any where else. We have seen that the best 
Italian organzine sells at present in London for 
157 50 a pound. 

Organzine is generally employed in weaving 
for the warp of the most elegant stuffs. It 

* Page 94 London Edition. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 291 

should not be reeled out of more than from 2 
to 3, 4 or 5 cocoons. Our correspondent at Man- 
chester wrote to us that raw silk, reeled from 
six to eight cocoons, was in the greatest de- 
mand in England, but for what purpose it was 
to be used, he does not explain. 

The silk called tram is generally employed 
for the waft or shoot of those stuffs of which 
the warp is made of organzine. It is generally 
made of the second class of the good cocoons, 
it may also be made out of the first class, and 
then it is of more value. When the rearing of 
the worms has been well attended to by the far- 
mers, there may be a deficiency of the less per- 
fect class of cocoons, which compels the reeler 
to employ the best class. We hope it will hap- 
pen so often in this country. 

Tram should not be reeled oif (of good co- 
coons) of more than twelve to fifteen fibres to a 
thread. 

Singles are also made out of the second class 
of good cocoons, and they should not be reel- 
ed of more than twelve to fifteen fibres' to a 
thread. They are called singles, because they 
are not^ like other raw silks, doubled in 
throwing. They are much employed in the 
woof of certain mixed stuffs of cotton and silk, 
of which the warp is niade of cotton. These 
stuffs which in our day were called cotes palis, 



292 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

are intended for the markets of the West In- 
dies and other tropical climates. They re- 
quire but little twisting. We would recom- 
mend this kind of raw silk to the attention of 
this country. These light stuffs might be man- 
ufactured here, and would be a good article of 
exportation to the Southern climates, with 
which the United States have a frequent and 
constant intercourse. 

Singles, by doubling and a stronger twist, 
may be thrown into tram of a good quality. 

The silk of bad cocoons, which. are suscepti- 
ble of reeling, is all reeled of from 20 to 25, 
and sometimes to 30 fibres to a thread; but 
it is difficult to unite perfectly well this last 
number of fibres. This is the silk that is era- 
uloyed in Europe in making sewing silks, 
plushes, stockings, gloves, night caps and 
other kinds of hosiery. Floss silk is also 
made out of it, which is a kind of flat silk 
much used in embroidery. And lastly all 
coarse stuffs, vestings and other articles of a 
similar kind, are made out of this silk. 

We have seen many articles of these various 
kinds, knit or woven out of American silk, 
and they have been exhibited as proofs of the 
advancement of the arts connected with silk in 
this country. But we regret to say that they 
were made out of the best silk of the best co- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 293 

coons, and of course, at an immense loss, be- 
sides that they had not attained the degree of 
perfection of those imported from Europe. 
This made us observe in our essays that it was 
like making kettles and sauce pans of pure gold. 
This observation applies particularly to sewing 
silk, of which we have said enough that we will 
not repeat here. 

We shall lastly speak of those cocoons which 
are not susceptible of being reeled. These, 
whether they are discovered in reeling or in 
sorting, are put aside, with the waste silk, the 
floss, the ribs, the third layer of silk which falls 
with the chrysalis to the bottom of the boiler, 
from which, after the chrysalis has been extract- 
ed, are boiled in a mass in soap and water during 
from four to six hours, after which it is card- 
ed and spun at the spinning wheel. This silk 
is called filoselle or jlurt silk. It is employed 
in making stockings and other kinds of hosiery 
of the coarsest kind. Those articles are much 
worn in Europe, and being made of silk, though 
of the most inferior quality, are preferred by 
many to the articles of the same kind made 
of other materials. 

We will now proceed to the mechanical ope- 
ration of reeling. 

26* 



CHAPTER VII 



OF THE REEL AND OTHER APPARATUS. 

The operation of reeling, as we have said 
before, consists of two distinct parts. 

1st. The drawing of the silk from the cocoons 
and keeping the machine constantly supplied 
with regular thread. 

2d. The winding of the thread round some- 
thing that performs the office of a spindle. 

The first of these two operations is done ex- 
clusively by the reelers or spinners; they re- 
ceive no aid from the machinery. In this con- 
sists the difficulty of the art. 

The second part is performed by the ma- 
chine, which is set in motion by the turning of 
a wheel. 

The Piedmontese reel has, for more than 
one hundred years, been considered as the best 
for winding the silk drawn from the cocoons ; 
various improvements of this machine have at 
different times been attempted, but after fair 
and repeated trials, they have been successive- 
ly rejected as defective and producing par- 
ticularly that blemish called glazing, which 
consists in the threads being so badly directed 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 295 

upon that part of the reel called the hasp,* that 
they are glued to each other, one of the most 
perplexing defects in the operation of reeling. 
No nation of Europe has contributed so much 
as the Piedmontese, to improve the reel for the 
winding of silk; but this machine did not at 
once reach the perfection which it has now at- 
tained. One of the principal points which 
first drew their attention was, that the fibres of 
which the threads were composed, reached the 
hasp without being embodied, that is to say, 
perfectly united to each other. In order to 
remedy this defect they first imagined to cause 
each thread of silk as it issued from the holes of 
the bow-bent iron, to pass over the circumfer- 
ence of two cylinders. This invention had two 
advantages: 1st, to cause the different fibres of 
which the threads are formed, by being com- 
pressed upon the cylinder, and thus imbibing 
their liquid gum, to glue them together and 

# This name is given in France, Italy and Germany to 
the great wheel of the reel on which the silk is wound, 
the outer bars of which are called the arms.- There is 
no proper name in English for this part of the machine, 
we have, therefore, called it hasp, which is also a good 
English word, and, we think, appropriate. 

" Hasp, a spindle to wind the silk thread or yarn upon." 
— Todd's Johnson'' s Dictionary. 

" Hasp, a spindle to wind thread or silk on." — Web- 
ster. 



296 SILK CULTUIUST'S MANUAL. 

make the whole thread compact. 2d, that the 
compression upon the cylinders lessens the 
moisture of the threads, and causes them to be 
wound round the hasp in a dryer state. 

This apparent improvement at first took fa- 
vor, because it gave to the silk a finished ap- 
pearance, which it never had before. But this 
method had also its disadvantages. The pres- 
sure upon the cylinders gave to the threads a 
flat form, whereas its perfection is to be as 
round as possible. Besides, it was found that 
this pressure was not strong enough to unite 
completely the fibres, they were not sufficiently 
dry, nor sufficiently smooth. Instead, there- 
fore of those cylinders, they contrived to make 
the two threads cross by twisting fifteen or 
twenty times round each other, which is called 
crossing; this operation is performed between 
their passage from the holes pf the bow-bent 
iron to the eyes of the rampins, or more pro- 
perly, the guides fixed on the distributing rod. 
This innovation had great success; the silk ac- 
quired from that moment a very different and 
a far superior quality; the threads by being 
thus crossed fifteen or twenty times over one 
another, became round and compact on leaving 
the point of crossing, by which the moisture 
was much better dried up ; it arrested, likewise, 
the floating particles of silk which sometimes 






SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 297 



rose from the basin with the threads. Thus the 
silk was distributed upon the hasp in a purer 
and dryer condition; and of a perfect, round 
form. 

We will not here describe a method invented 
by the celebrated Vaucanson of crossing the 
threads at two different places, to wit, below and 
above the distributing rod. This invention has 
been put aside, because the reelers cannot be 
brought to use it, for the threads thus crossed 
twice, are liable to be broken very often, and 
occasion great loss of time. 

After the discovery of the crossing, the 
Piedmontese added several other improvements 
to their reels. They applied themselves more 
especially to the perfecting of the distributing 
rod and its guides, and to establishing between 
the roller and the pulley, which was then fixed 
at the end of the hasp, a proportion so exact, 
that the threads should continually take a sepa- 
rate position upon its arms; so that no longer 
lying upon ' each other, they might not be 
glued together. After the most careful ex- 
amination, they concluded that they should 
never attain the end which they sought, as 
long as the roller should receive its movements 
from the hasp, by the means of a cord with- 
out end, because this cord, by the alterations 
to which it was liable, and which were con- 



298 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

stantly occurring, from the different degrees 
of moisture or dryness of the atmosphere, 
perpetually deranged the proportion estab- 
lished between the hasp and the roller. Be- 
sides, the cord without end, by its continual 
friction, gradually wears away the wood of 
the roller, and that of the pulley of the hasp, 
and by thus deepening the channels, causes 
an irregularity in the just proportion which 
ought to exist between them, and if the cord 
be too loose, it will slip upon the pulley of 
the hasp, or upon the roller, and in either 
case, the roller will not make its proportional 
number of rotations; for all these reasons they 
have abandoned the movement by the agen- 
cy of a cord without end,* and have substi- 
tuted for it four bevilled wheels, with an es- 
tablished number of teeth, in order that the 
advancing and retiring motion of the distribu- 

* These improvements in the reel were made in Pied- 
mont, more than a century ago; for in 1T24 when the 
celebrated ordinance was made, the reel had attained its 
present degree of perfection; yet such is the force of 
habit, that in some of the domestic filatures in France, 
the cord without end is still in use. We ourselves used 
it in our experimental filature at Philadelphia, because, 
at that time we could not get the Piedmont reel made 
without considerable trouble and expense, and we were 
also much pressed for time. 



SILK CULTUMST'S MANUAL. 299 

ting rod with its guides, should be permanently 
regulated with each revolution of the hasp. 

The Piedmontese have also increased the 
distance from the distributing rod and its guides 
to the hasp, and have at last fixed it at 3 feet 
10 J inches, (American measure,) in order that 
the minute particles of water with which the 
threads of silk are charged, being longer ex- 
posed to the air might evaporate and the silk 
be wound round the hasp in a dryer state. 

Every one will understand that the motion 
given by cog wheels is more perfect and more 
equal than that given by a cord without end, 
or a pulley | the first is easily calculated, divi- 
ded, and distributed in the desired proportion. 
It is easy to determine and fix its graduation by 
the number of cogs which produce the move- 
ment, and thus be able to calculate those de- 
grees to their smallest possible number; a per- 
fection which cannot be attained by the other 
motion, the cord without end or the pulley not 
being susceptible of that geometrical correct- 
ness which is requisite to calculate and distin- 
guish the progression of such a motion ; this is 
as clear as it is incontestable. 

A motion by cog wheels is much more mul- 
tiplied and varied than a simple motion, every 
one will understand that ; such is the motion of 
the Piedmont reel, as we are going to see. 



300 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

In this particular case, in order that the 
threads in reeling do not lie parallel upon the 
arms of the hasp, but cross over one another, it 
requires amotion extremely multiplied and vari- 
ed to produce that irregularity, and this is pre- 
cisely performed by the combination in the 
four cog wheels of this reel, as we shall pre- 
sently demonstrate. 

The bevil wheel, R, (see the plate) has 22 
cogs ; it gears with another bevil wheel, S, not 
of 22 cogs, which would produce a simple mo- 
tion only, but of 25. This irregularity in the 
number of cogs, creates, necessarily, another 
one in the motion. The bevil wheel, F, of 35 
cogs, which guides the distributing rod I, gears 
with another bevil wheel U, of 22 cogs, which 
is a second irregularity. 

This double irregularity of movement which 
takes place between the distributing rod and 
the hasp, which moves all, forms also an inte- 
gral motion, the effect of which is to imitate, 
in the unwinding of the cocoons, the same me- 
thod employed by the worm in forming it ; for 
it is a fact well known to naturalists, that the 
fibres of the cocoon are spun on it crosswise, 
and not in a straight line, (the foreign writers 
call this zig-zag,) which is exactly the same 
manner in which the motion of the Piedmont 
reel places the threads on the hasp, from which 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 301 

this great advantage results, that the threads 
which in reeling still retain much of their gum, 
by not lying close to each other on the hasp in 
their whole length, are not so liable to be glued 
together ; besides that the motion of the hasp 
has already dried, in some measure, the silk 
threads that are placed upon it ; for such is the 
effect of the well calculated motion of the dif- 
ferent parts of this reel, produced by the admi- 
rable arrangements of the cog wheels, that the 
hasp has had time to perform 875 revolutions, 
and the distributing rod 484, before the threads 
return precisely to the same place. Conse- 
quently the operation of this ingenious machine 
is an imitation of nature, of which the industry 
of the worm, instructed by her is the proto- 
type. 

All the above improvements, suggested by 
long practice and experience, have brought the 
reel of Piedmont to the perfection which it has 
been so long generally acknowledged to possess, 
and all the attempts to improve it in Europe 
have been successively rejected. 

We must be allowed to say here, that the 
greatest number of the supposed improvements 
that we have seen attempted in this country, 
were no others than those which had been thus 
unsuccessfully tried in Europe; we do not 
speak of those that are truly contemptible, to 
27 



302 SILK CULTURXST'S MANUAL. 

some of which we have alluded in this work; 
there are quacks and pretenders in every coun- 
try ; but it is well that it should be known that 
those alterations, for we will not call them im- 
provements, have not met with success any 
where, and that the Piedmont reel in its present 
form is everywhere considered as possessing a 
degree of perfection which it is difficult, if not 
impossible to surpass. 

We will now proceed to give a minute de- 
scription of this truly wonderful machine, which 
gives unquestionably to the silk a beauty and a 
quality before unknown, and which no other 
invention has yet and probably never will be 
able to attain. 

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE, 

FlCURE I. 

The length of the frame is 6 feet, 4 inches, the 
breadth 2 feet If inches out and out, the height 
is 2 feet 4 1 inches; from the front of the bearers, 
AAA, to the centre of the front feet, BB, there 
is one foot and one inch, from thence to the cen- 
tre of the hind feet, BB, 3 feet 10| inches. The 
bearers, AAA, are 3 inches in depth, by If 
inch in width; the feet BBBB, are of the same 
dimensions; 5 inches from the bottom they 
are framed together lengthways and crossways 
with braces, CCCC, of suitable strength, under- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 303 

»eath which, boards are fastened in order to 
form a room to serve to put the bad cocoons 
and other things. The top of the frame is 
fastened at each end, by two cross pieces, 
DD; the one in front to be at least 5 inches in 
width, which is called the shelf, and serves 
to the reeler as a place to deposit her bunch 
of twigs, and her cup of fresh water to cool 
her fingers, the other not more than 3 inches 
wide. Directly above the front feet, BB, two 
posts, EE, are placed, that on the left side is 4 
inches long, in which an iron pin, G, is fastened, 
on which revolves a bevil wheel, F, called the 
pinion, having 35 cogs or teeth ; this wheel is 
fastened to a turned piece of wood about 3 
inches in length, which fits loosely on the iron 
pin, G; upon this piece of wood an iron crank, 
H, is fastened, which has 3 inches eccentricity, 
in which the distributing rod, I, fits loosely ; on 
the other post, that is to say, the right one, 
there is a mortice, or opening, in which the 
extremity of the distributing rod plays. Four 
feet and 6 inches from the front of the bearers, 
AAA, two other posts, KK, are placed, about 5 
inches high, in which the gudgeons, LL, fixed 
at each end of the nave, M, revolve; this nave 
is 4 inches square, the thorough length of the 
arms, NNNN, is 2 feet 10 inches, the thick- 
ness is 1 1 by 1 inch | ; the four pieces, OOOO, 



304 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

on the top of the arms on which the silk is 
wound, are 2 inches square, and 18 inches long, 
with a groove of three-eighths of an inch in the 
middle, and both sides rounded off; one pair 
of arms are permanently fixed in the nave, but 
the other pair are cut asunder and placed 
crossways upon the other, and fastened by two 
wedges, PP ; this mode is resorted to in order 
that by taking out the wedges, the arms which 
are provided with rule joints, may be drawn in- 
to the opening, by which means the silk on the 
arms will be slackened, so that it may be taken 
off. At one end of the nave, M, is fixed a han- 
dle, Q, by which the whole is put in motion ; 
on the other end, is a bevil wheel, R, with 22 
cogs, called the little bell, which gears in ano- 
ther bevil wheel, S, with 25 cogs, called the 
great bell, fastened upon a shaft, T, to which 
another bevil wheel, U, with 22 cogs, called the 
star, is also fixed, which drives that of 35 cogs, 
F, called the pinion, by which the distribu- 
ting rod, I, is put in motion. In front upon the 
cross piece, D, called the shelf, a bow-bent 
iron, V, is fixed, inclining at an angle of 45 de- 
grees, with holes drilled in it, through which 
the silk threads are led to and passed through 
the wire eyes of the guides, WW, fixed on the 
distributing rod, to the hasp. 

Now, if motion be given to the horizontal 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 305 

bevil wheel, or pinion, by means of the other 
wheels and shaft, w T hen the handle of the hasp 
is turned, it is evident that this will cause the 
distributing rod likewise to move to and fro, 
directing the threads which pass through its 
wire eyes alternately to the right and left, 
through a range equal to the diameter of the 
horizontal bevil wheel to which it is attached. 
The remaining apparatus for reeling is very 
simple, it consists only of a basin filled with 
water, in which the cocoons are put, and a fur- 
nace to heat that water to the proper degree. 
The foreign writers have taken great pains to 
prescribe the size and the form of the basins, 
and the material of which they are to be made. 
The ordinance of Piedmont requires, (Art. 15,) 
that the basins be thin and of an oval form, and 
even goes so far as to prescribe their depth. 
This attention to minutiae, shows how much im- 
portance is attached in Europe to everything 
that may in the least contribute to the perfec- 
tion of raw silk. We cannot say that we allow 
so much importance to this object; we rather 
think that a basin large enough to contain the 
necessary quantity of cocoons, and to beat and 
manage them with ease, and of a material not 
susceptible of rust, and not liable to soil the co- 
coons or make the water foul, will, be sufficient. 
In our experimental filature at Philadelphia^ 
27* 



306 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

we had basins made of copper that might have 
contained two handsful of cocoons, and which 
answered perfectly well. 

As to the furnaces, there is no particular form 
required ; in our filature they were made of 
bricks and built on the ground in front of each 
reel, and so placed that the reeler might sit next 
to them with ease. Their height should be 
such that they should not rise above the level 
of the reel where the reeler sits, and their di- 
ameter proportionate to that of the basin. They 
should be provided with a flue or pipe to carry 
up the smoke, so that it should not offend the 
eyes of the reeler, and injure the color and 
brilliancy of the silk. 

But since the invention of the admirable ap- 
paratus of Mr. Gensoul, furnaces are no longer 
used in the large filatures of Italy and France, 
but the water is supplied by steam to the basins 
through pipes, in the manner hereafter des- 
cribed. This apparatus has the advantage of 
distributing a sufficient degree of heat to an in- 
determinate number of basins, by means of a 
single furnace. It regularizes the labor of the 
reelers, it raises or lowers by small degrees and 
with rapidity the water of the basins to the re- 
quired temperature; it preserves the purity of 
the water and increases the quantity of the silk 
reeled, because the women, no longer disturbed 



SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 307 

by the necessity of attending to their furnaces, 
perform their work without interruption, and 
with greater ease, and are not offended by the 
smoke arising from their fires. 

The following description of this apparatus 
i% taken from a report made by Dr. Terme to 
the society of agriculture of the department of 
the Rhone, of which Lyons is the capital. We 
are indebted for it to Mr. De Teste in his ex- 
cellent work on the silk trade in France. An 
engraving of it will be found in the plate, figure 
2, which we have taken from the same work. 

DESCRIPTION— FIGURE II. 

The apparatus consists of a boiler provided 
with a steam gauge and a safety valve; the 
boiler is placed in a furnace heated by means 
of bituminous coal. The steam thereby gene- 
rated passes into a main pipe which extends 
horizontally through the whole apartment at an 
elevation of about ten feet from the floor. From 
this main pipe, descending pipes branch out lat- 
erally, each of these is bifurcated, and supplies 
two basins with steam. These pipes are termina- 
ted by a tube, the extremity of which is perfo- 
rated with small apertures that allow the steam 
to diffuse itself through the water in the basin. 
They are also provided with stop cocks near 
the end, by opening or closing which, the spin- 



308 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

ners are enabled to regulate the temperature; 
when steam is introduced into cold water, it 
produces a hissing sound that continues till the 
temperature is raised to 167° F. From 178° 
to 190°, which is the best point for spinning, 
the water experiences a very distinct tremu- 
lous motion, which, at 203° passes into a lively 
ebullition; this is the proper temperature for 
beating the cocoons. These indications may 
serve in lieu of a thermometer, and are so used 
by the reelers, who being no longer diverted 
from their occupations yb the necessity of keep- 
ing up their respective fires, as they used to 
be, are enabled to attend more steadily to spin- 
ning. The steam that condenses in the basins 
furnishes a constant supply of distilled or per- 
fectly pure water, which gives to the products 
obtained by this apparatus, a marked advantage 
over those resulting from the old process. A 
comparison made by the committee, of hanks of 
silk produced by the old and the new appara- 
tus, showed the superiority of the latter. By 
comparing these hanks with some of the first 
quality of Chinese silk, the committee satisfied 
themselves of the great and decided preference 
to be given to that of French origin. 

To this report Mr. De Teste adds: "This 
mode of working by steam, compared with the 
old process, shows a saving of three-fourths 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 309 

of the fuel, an increase in the quantity of the 
produce of labor, which may be estimated at 
one-tenth, and an improvement in the quality 
and brilliancy of the product. Moreover, by 
means of it, the white silk retains all its bril- 
liancy." 



CHAPTER VIII 



OF REELING AND PREPARING THE RAW 
MATERIAL FOR EXPORTATION. 

Having taken the preliminary precautions 
already spoken of, that is to say, picked the 
floss or loose silk from the cocoons, sorted them 
according to their different degree of fineness, 
and separated the bad, the double, and other 
imperfect ones, we will now proceed to ex- 
plain the manual operation of reeling. 

The kind of water in which the cocoons are 
to be reeled is of considerable importance ; it 
should be either rain water, or that which is 
obtained from ponds or slow running streams, 
and which has been a long time exposed to the 
air ; water which is called hard, such as that 
which is supplied by springs or wells, usually 
contains a large proportion of earthy salt, and 
will not sufficiently soften the gum of the co- 
coons ; they will consequently wind off with 
difficulty, and their threads be liable to contin- 
ual breaking. 

This water being put in the basin of the fur- 
nace, X, let it be made just to simmer, but not 
come to boiling. The exact degrees of heat to 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 311 

which the water should be raised cannot be ex- 
actly defined, for some cocoons will require wa- 
ter heated from 168° to 190°; and others from 
190° to 202°. From 178° to 190°, which 
is the best point for spinning, the water ex- 
periences a very distinct tremulous motion, 
which at 203° passes into a lively ebulition; 
this is the proper temperature for beating the 
cocoons. 

For the hardest sort of cocoons the water re- 
quires to be more heated, but a less degree for 
the others. However, the heat cannot be as- 
certained until the reeler begins to spin, for 
then if the silk comes off in knobs, commonly 
called gouts, or lumps, it shows that the water 
is too hot; it must be immediately cooled and 
the fire abated. On the contrary, if the silk is 
with difficulty drawn from the cocoons, which 
is known by their often leaping out of the basin, 
the water is then evidently not hot enough suf- 
ciently to soften the gum, and the fire must be 
increased. It is evident, therefore, that all 
those things are to be regulated according to 
the experience of the reeler. 

The reeler or spinner who attends to the 
management of the cocoons in the basin, must 
be provided with a brush of about six inches in 
length, made of the finest twigs, or tops of 
heath bound together, and made flat at the 



312 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

brush part — two or three handsful of cocoons 
are thrown into the basin, wherein they are 
submerged, with the flat part of the brush, du- 
ring some minutes to soften their gum ; the 
reeler must then press the cocoons with the flat 
part of the brush. This operation requires 
care and dexterity, for if the cocoons are 
struck roughly, their fibres, instead of coming 
off singly, will cling together in lumps, and 
there will be a great loss of silk and great trou- 
ble in reeling them off. By means of this opera- 
tion the fibres of the cocoons thus gently press- 
ed, will adhere to the brush, and will be drawn 
out by its means, when the reeler disengages 
them, and draws the filament towards her, until 
it comes off quite clean from floss or coarse silk, 
which is called the ribs, and the fine silk begins 
to appear. These preliminary steps are called 
the beating. 

In the composition of the thread, the reeler 
takes a number of fibres, according to the fine- 
ness of the silk that may be required of her, 
and delivers the compound thread to the per- 
son who turns the hasp, who passes it through 
one of the holes of the bow-bent iron,* fixed 

* There are four holes, two on each side of the bow- 
bent iron, but one on each side is only used, and may bei 
changed if the reeler should find that the hanks on the 
hasp, are too near or too far from each other. But four 
or even three hanks cannot be reeled at the same time. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 313 

above the basin. Another thread is, in like 
manner, to be prepared, and passed through 
another hole at the other end of the bow-bent 
iron ; the two threads thus composed are then 
twisted twenty or twenty-five times round each 
other, in order that the different fibres compo- 
sing each thread may better unite together by 
these mutual crossings, and likewise that the 
whole may assume a cylindrical form, which is 
indispensable for the good quality of the silk. 

After being thus passed through the bow- 
bent iron, V, and twisted, the threads are led 
separately through the wire eyes WW, of 
the distributing rod, I, and being thence con- 
ducted to the hasp, are made fast to its arms, 
NNNN, one on the right and one on the left, 
so as to form two hanks. 

Now, both threads being thus fixed, the 
hasp is turned with a regular motion, and some- 
what slowly, until it is ascertained that all the 
cocoons yield their fibres freely and easily, for 
it will happen that some of the fibres which 
were taken to compose the threads were false 
ones, because in taking off the floss, the ribs, and 
loose particles, you may have taken hold of one 
of these false fibres which will soon end in reel- 
ing, and must be replaced, to make up the num- 
ber which is to compose the thread. 

As soon as the cocoons yield their fibres free- 
28 * 



314 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL, 

ly ? a much quicker motion is to be given to the 
hasp. This is, however, regulated by the reel- 
er, according to certain indications; for if the 
cocoons should leap up often, and beat against 
the bow- bent iron, the motion of the hasp should 
be slackened, and the fire increased, and if the 
thread comes off in burrs, knobs, or lumps, it 
must be turned quicker, and the fire diminished. 
Of this, the reeler, who keeps her eye constant- 
ly upon the cocoons and the threads, must, as 
she sees occasion, apprize the person who turns 
the hasp ; that it may receive its proper motion, 
which ought to be as quick as possible, without 
endangering the breaking of the thread, or hur- 
rying the reeler, so that she cannot add fresh 
cocoons when required. 

To keep the requisite degree of evenness 
in the thread requires attention, skill, and prac- 
tice. The reeler must not wait until the fibre 
of a cocoon is entirely exhausted before she 
puts on another, because as we have already 
explained, as the cocoons approach to their 
end the fibres become much finer. It is in- 
dispensable to attend to this circumstance, as 
well as to the breaking of the threads, in 
order that the requisite degree of evenness, 
without which the silk cannot be profitable, 
may be preserved throughout the threads. 
This gradually decreasing thickness of the 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 315 

fibres is in such a proportion, that where half 
wound cocoons, after breaking, are again add- 
ed, two such are considered equal to one that 
has not been used. Thus the union of three 
new and two half wound cocoons is equal to four 
new cocoons, therefore if the reeler does not take 
care to preserve the equality of her threads, by 
adding fresh fibres to strengthen them, they will 
break at the crossings. As we have already said, 
she must not wait until one or more cocoons be 
finished before she joins others to her threads ; 
for by such delay she would not only expose her 
threads to break, but she would make besides 
a very unequal and bad quality of silk ; and as 
far as it may depend upon her, she must pre- 
vent the threads from breaking ; and when this 
accident is too frequent, it may generally be 
imputed to her carelessness or to her want of 
skill. 

When the reeler neglects to purge complete- 
ly the cocoons before the reeling, knobs of loose 
silk rise with the fibres and stop either at the 
holes of the bow-bent iron, V, or at the cross- 
ings, and cause the rupture of the threads. 

If she do not conduct skilfully the heating, 
so that the cocoons be on all sides well steeped, 
the silk will not wind off; the cocoons will rise 
with the threads and make them break. 

The cocoons must not be reeled off to the last. 



316 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

because when they approach their termination, 
the husk or pellicle of the worm, is carried 
forward with the threads and makes the silk 
foul. When the silk is nearly wound off, those 
small pellicles remain, and the cocoon being 
then too light to continue in the basin, will rise 
to the bow-bent iron, and if not immediately 
removed would, by stopping the passage, oc- 
casion the breaking of the threads. 

It will not unfrequently happen in reeling, 
that the two threads in passing from the bow- 
bent iron to the distributing rod, will become 
entangled with each other, and pass on together 
to the hasp, and this, from the rapidity of the 
motion, may continue for some time without 
bein^ observed. We call that marriages. 
When this is perceived, the reeler must imme- 
diately order the turner to stop, and then the 
hasp is to be turned on the opposite side, so as to 
unwind the silk to the place where the marriage 
began. When it does not extend to any great 
length, the united threads are separated, and 
one of them is broken off, and the reeling con- 
tinues; but if it should extend to too great a 
length, then a knot is to be made at both ends 
of the united threads, and the reeling goes on ; 
when the silk comes afterwards to be wound off 
on bobbins from the hanks, which is the busi- 



SILK CULTUUIST'S MANUAL. 317 

ncss of the throwster,* those united threads are 
broken, and considered as waste ; therefore it 
is of great importance that a reeler should pay 
the greatest attention to prevent these accidents 
which are the cause of considerable loss. 

The supplying of fresh fibres requires readi- 
ness and dexterity which can only be acquired 
by practice ; and there are no reelers sufficient- 
ly expert to give the necessary attention to 
more than two threads at the same time; it is 
proper, therefore, never to reel more than two 
threads at once. 

In order to be always ready to add fresh 
fibres, to replace those which break or come to 
an end, the reeler must from time to time 
throw an additional supply of cocoons into the 
basin for this object. Even this little matter 
requires to be done with judgment, for if any 
of the cocoons should remain too long in the 
basin, their gum would be dissolved, and the 
silk would come from them unequally; the 
same thing would happen if the reeler was un- 
der the necessity of leaving her work for any 
length of time; in that case the cocoons should 
be all taken out of the basin, until her return. 

Raw silk may be wound of any size, from two 
cocoons, to one hundred, but it is very difficult 



# See page 326. 

28* 



318 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

to unite more than thirty fibres in one compact 
thread. The art consists in reeling an even 
thread ; for as the fibre of each cocoon is not 
of one uniform tenuity throughout, the skill of 
the reeler is required so to form her threads, 
that the same thickness may be continuously 
preserved throughout the hanks. This per- 
fect equality is so difficult of attainment, that 
the degree of thickness in the silk is never 
exactly defined; and, with the exception of 
a thread of two cocoons, which is so called, 
silks are not distinguished as being composed 
of three, four, or five fibres, but as we have 
already observed, are said to be of three to 
four, four to five, or five to six cocoons. 
Coarser silks are not even so particularly de- 
fined, but are called from twelve to fifteen, 
from fifteen to twenty cocoons, and so on. 

The reeler must always, during the operation 
of reeling, have at her side a bowl of cold water? 
into which she may dip her fingers; for without 
that precaution, she would be unable to bear 
the heat of the water in the basin. With that 
bowl of cold water she may also, from time to 
time, as occasion requires, abate the heat of the 
water in the basin. 

It is not only of consequence to the facility of i 
reeling, but also to the quality of the silk pro- 
duced, that the water should be of a proper tem- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 319 

perature, and as clean as can be; and it is for 
these reasons that Mr. GensouPs apparatus is so 
useful in large filatures, and should be general- 
ly adopted in establishments of that kind. As to 
those who wish to reel their cocoons on a smaller 
scale, it is necessary that they should be told, that 
the water in the basin must be changed twice a 
day at least, when good cocoons are reeled, and 
four times a day when dupions or other bad co- 
coons are wound. The chrysalides and husks 
contained in the cocoons very speedily make the 
water foul, and, for that reason, these frequent 
changes are needed; for if the water employed 
be not very clear, it will be in vain to look for 
the production of fine, brilliant silk. 

Two hanks are wound upon the hasp at the 
same time; when these are completed, they are 
set in the shade to dry, without being removed 
from the hasp, which, for this purpose, can be 
readily disengaged from the frame. These two 
hanks will occupy the morning's labor. In the 
afternoon a fresh hasp is employed, and two 
other hanks are wound, which are set apart un- 
til the morning, that they may be dry before 
they are removed from the hasp. 

Although this operation needs no instruction, 
yet we shall take occasion here to mention some 
things which will be found useful. 

One cannot consider attentively the manner 



320 SILK CULTURISTS MANUAL. 

in which the silk is reeled from the cocoons, 
without observing that the fine fibres of which 
the thread is composed, are liable to suffer 
very different degrees of stretching, as they 
are winding from the cocoons. If the cocoons 
are not well sorted, this different degree of ex- 
tension will be greater, and, even when they 
are well sorted, they are still subject to dif- 
ferent stretching, because some always remain a 
little longer in the hot water than others, and 
therefore yield their silk more easily, and also, 
because the finest fibres of some cocoons wind 
off with the strongest of others. 

The fibres being thus stretched unequally, 
will occasion (when the hank is taken from 
the hasp too suddenly,) those fibres which are 
most stretched, to contract more than others, 
by which their union will be in some measure 
destroyed, and the thread composed of them, 
rendered less compact and firm, the single 
fibres appearing in several places disjoined from 
one another. 

To prevent this, the reeled silk, should not 
be suddenly taken ofF the hasp, but remain on 
it until the unequal extension which it suffered 
in winding, is, by the stretching which it un- 
dergoes, brought as much as possible to an 
equality, and until the thread by being well 
dried, has all the fibres of which it is com- 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 321 

posed, firmly united. This is only effected by 
having two hasps for each reel, so that when 
one is full, the reeler may proceed to wind 
upon the other. 

When the skeins are quite dry, and while 
they remain on the hasp, they must be well 
cleared of all knots, or gouts, loose threads, (if 
any there be,) and other impurities; this must 
be done with the hand alone, any other mode 
is expressly prohibited by the ordinance of 
Piedmont, as will be seen in the tenth chapter; 
after this, the silk is taken off by taking out the 
wedges, and folding the arms. Before that, 
each skein is then to be tied round in two 
places with some of the refuse silk, it is after- 
wards doubled into a hank, and is considered 
ready for use or sale. 

We repeat here that evenness of thread, and 

the absence of knobs or gouts, which, among 

manufacturers give to silk the name of being 

foul, are the leading points which determine 

its value in the market. 

As to the floss, coarse and loose silk which was 
on the outside of the cocoons, it is carded and 
spun on the wheel ; as is also the third layer of 
the cocoons, being first softened in water and 
soap. We need not give any information to the 
farmers as to the manner of performing this ope- 
ration ; they are sufficiently familiar with it. 






322 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

The further management of silk, with the 
various manners in which it is thrown, and pre- 
pared to be woven, do not come within the per- 
view of this treatise, but will, nevertheless, be 
briefly explained in the next chapter. 

Sorting the silks for exportation is a subject 
which will require great attention and care. 
In the year 1774, when a filature was establish- 
ed at Philadelphia, under the patronage of the 
American Philosophical Society, at the sugges- 
tion of the illustrious Franklin, Dr. John Mor- 
gan, an active and zealous member of that insti- 
tution, carried on a correspondence on the sub- 
ject of silk, with Messrs. Hare and Skinner, 
then respectable silk merchants in London. 
Two of those gentlemen's letters were pub- 
lished in 1785, (alas, too late, for the filature 
had then disappeared,) in the transactions of the 
Society.* In one of those letters, dated July 
27, 1774, Messrs. Hare and Skinner write as fol- 
lows: "The large quantity of raw silk that con- 
tinually arrives from China every year, being 
mostly of a round or large size, will a good deal 
interfere with the sale of yours, provided you 
make it of the same; therefore, we by all means 
recommend your reeling yours of the fineness 
of five or six cocoons, no coarser at any rate, if 

*Vol. ii, p. 347. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 323 

avoidable. And we further beg leave to re- 
commend your giving orders to your workmen 
to be extremely careful in assorting the silk, 
observing that all that is put into one parcel, 
be exactly, if possible, of the same fineness, for 
if it is not, it will very much prejudice its sale; 
a neglect in this particular, is complained of in 
all the silk that has hitherto been received from 
America. If the silk, which was very good in 
itself, that we received from Georgia, had been 
properly assorted, we certainly should have sold 
it Is. 6d, or 2s., per pound, better than we did. 
If you reel your silk fine, the China silk will 
rather promote its sale than otherwise, as it is 
necessary to have fine silk to work up with 
that of China." 

This letter is suited to the time in which it 
was written. If large filatures should be estab- 
lished in this country, the managers will do 
well to follow the instructions of their corres- 
pondents in England and France as to the quali- 
ties of silk that are to be sent, as they vary with 
the different stuffs which are made in the manu- 
factories, and these depend upon the fashions 
of the day. 

But the reeling and sending proper assort- 
ments of raw silk, will require tne greatest at- 
tention. If a bale of that article should contain 
silks of various descriptions, without attention 



324 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL* 

to what may be wanted, it will give infinite 
trouble to sort them afterwards, and will great- 
ly lessen the price of the article. The reelers, 
therefore, when they leave a filature to set up 
for themselves, should be instructed as to the 
qualities of silk that will be wanted of them, 
otherwise they will work at a venture, and 
those who purchase their silk will be at a loss 
what to do with it. This, alone, is sufficient to 
show the advantage of large filatures, which 
will serve as guides to the domestic reelers, fa- 
cilitate their work, and increase their profits. 



CHAPTER IX 



OF THE PROGRESS OF RAW SILK UNTIL IT 
COMES TO THE HANDS OF THE MANU- 
FACTURER. 

We do not mean in this chapter to instruct 
the reader in the various arts to the operation 
of which our precious material is subjected af- 
ter it comes out of the hands of the reeler, 
when, and not before, it becomes entitled to the 
denomination of raw silk. We have alreadv 
said that those different operations have nothing 
to do with agriculture, and that they belong to 
different mechanical trades or professions. Our 
object is simply to show the different changes 
which silk undergoes after reeling, until it comes 
to be manufactured into an immense variety of 
forms, which require different preparations, as 
well in the reeling as in the throwing of the 
delicate material. We also wish to show the 
impossibility of performing any one of these 
operations at the same time with reeling and 
by the same machinery, and that the so much 
spoken of machine, which is said to reel and 
twist silk at the same time, is either the produc- 
tion of imposture or of ingenious ignorance. 
29 



326 SILK CULTUMST'S MANUAL. 

From the filature, the silk, after being pro- 
perly reeled, and the hanks dried, cleaned and 
made up in the manner above directed, passes 
into the hands of the throwster, to be converted 
into what is called orga?izined i or thrown silk. 
The principal operation here is twisting, which 
is done by means of the throwing mill or ma- 
chine, which is very complicated and fills a 
large room. But before the silk is put to the 
mill, it is to receive several preparations, by 
means of separate subordinate machinery. 
Those preparations are : 

1st. Winding on bobbins. The raw silk,, 
which the throwster receives in hanks, is now 
wound upon bobbins for the facility of twisting. 
This is done by means of what is called & wind- 
ing machine, consisting of several slight reels 
all of the same form called swifts. They are 
placed at some distance from each other, so that 
several hanks may be wound at the same time. 
Dr. Lardner has given a drawing of one of those 
swifts, in his Treatise on the Silk Manufacture, 
page 199, Lond. Edit. 

2nd . Cleaning or purging. Dr. La rd ner does 
not speak of this second operation, for what 
reason we know not; but we have seen it con- 
stantly performed in France, in the throwing 
establishments, and it seems to be absolutely 
necessary, because silk, particularly that of the 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 327 

domestic filatures, seldom comes to the throw- 
ster perfectly free from knobs or gouts, and other 
impurities. These are removed by means of 
an instrument called the cleaner, of which we 
have not seen a description any where. 

3rd. Doubling. This operation is that of 
joining two or more threads of the same silk to- 
gether, according to the nature of the different 
fabrics in which it is to be employed. Some 
silks receive, before this operation, a slight 
degree of twisting at the mill, and a stronger 
one afterwards. All silks do not require the 
same degree of twisting, nor are they all to be 
twisted in the same manner, but some in a right 
hand, some in a left hand direction, and others 
in both directions. See Lardner, pp. 203, 204, 
where a drawing of the doubling machine is 
given. 

The silk is now ready for its final twist. This 
operation needs not be described. Those who 
are curious of knowing it, will find a descrip- 
tion of it with drawings, in Lardner's interest- 
ing work. 

From the throwster, the silk goes to the dyer, 
who first boils it in soap and water, to dissolve the 
gum that still adheres to it ; afterwards he dyes 
it of various colours, and hands it over to the 
manufacturer, who weaves it into different stuffs. 
Sewing silk, however, is perfect, after it is 



328 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

thrown and dyed. It is then fit for use and re- 
quires nothing to be added to it ; so that the 
manufacturer of sewing silk is properly the 
throwster. It is easy now to perceive that even 
sewing silk cannot be made at the same time, 
nor by the same machinery which is employed 
to prepare raw silk. Much less can organ- 
zine, tram or singles, be so twisted, that are des- 
tined for the making of different stuffs, most 
of which require a different mode and degree 
of twisting. 



CHAPTER X 



PIEDMONTESE ORDINANCE, 

CONCERNING FILATURES AND SILK REELS, 

Of the 8th of April, 1724. 

Article I. Every one who shall wish to esta- 
blish a filature of silk, whatever may be his 
quality, shall every year before he puts his fila- 
ture into operation, present himself at the office 
of the Secretary of the Consulate, if he (the 
owner) lives in the city of Turin or its districts, 
and at the office of the ordinary judge, if he 
lives in another town or village, and there shall 
make his declaration, and bind himself to ob- 
serve and cause to be observed, the following 
regulations, under the penalty of losing the 
reeled silks or their value for want of such de- 
claration and engagement. 

The Secretary of the Consulate shall keep a 
particular register of the declarations for the 
District of Turin. 

The ordinary judges shall transmit the de- 
clarations made before them to the said Secre- 
tary, within fifteen days after they shall have 
been made, otherwise they shall pay the costs 
and charges of the commissioners whom that 
*29 



330 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

magistrate shall be obliged to send upon the 
spot to receive them. 

Of these the Secretary shall keep a separate 
record. 

In case those declarations shall be made by 
the servants and not by the owners of filatures, 
the latter shall be civilly responsible for such 
declarations. 

Art. II. Every filature of more than three 
reels, shall while in operation, be superintended 
by an able and skillful person who shall watch 
over the observation of the following regula- 
tions. The owner shall make him known to the 
Secretary or to the ordinary judge, under the 
penalty of 25 golden crowns, (about $45.) 

Art. III. In order to reel silk, the good co^ 
coons must first be separated from the double, 
spotted and imperfect ones ; the floss must be 
cleanly taken off, and the various qualities must 
be reeled separately from each other, putting in- 
to the basins a sufficient number of cocoons, ac- 
cording to the quality that is to be reeled ; the 
reeler must besides be very attentive to her 
work, that the thread be drawn perfectly equal ; 
the whole under the penalty of 25 crowns, to be 
paid by the owner or those of his servants who 
shall be present and consent to a similar mixture, 
and of ten livres Piedmont, (about 2 dollars) to 
be paid by the reelers for each contravention. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 331 

Art. IV. The silks must be spun of two 
threads only, so that there be on the hasp no 
more than two hanks ; those threads must be 
crossed at least 15 times for fine and superfine 
silks, and for other silks a greater number of 
times, according to their respective qualities ; 
for the thicker and coarser the silks are, the of- 
tener must they be crossed, which must not be 
done while the hasp is turning. Whenever the 
threads shall meet, and roll up thus doubled in- 
to a single thread, on one of the two hanks, the 
hasp must be turned in the contrary sense until 
the place shall be found where the threads be- 
gan to be joined, and the double thread, must 
be placed in the middle of the hasp between 
the two hanks, so as to form a little band which 
will serve afterwards to tie up the said hanks ; 
it being forbidden to tie them up with any thing 
else under the above penalties, besides the loss 
of the silk. 

Art. V. All the silks must come out well 
purged, very clean and very equal, according 
to their respective qualities. 

Art. VI. The posts between which the hasp 
is fixed, and those which support the distribut- 
ing rod ought to be placed at the distance of 
two Piedmontese feet, (equal to three feet 10J 
inches American measure,) from each other, so 
that from the hasp to the guides there be a suf- 



332 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

ficient distance, that the crossed threads, as has 
been said above, may come to the hasp drier 
and in better condition : all that under the 
penalty of 25 livres for every reel otherwise 
disposed, to be paid by the owner of the filature. 
Art. VII. The hasp shall be of no more than 48 
nor less than 40 ounces (a Piedmontese measure) 
in circumference. Nevertheless all the hasps 
of the same filature, shall have an uniform cir- 
cumference, under the above penalty of 25 
livres, &c. 

Art. VIII. The hanks shall not be taken from 
the hasp until they are perfectly dry ; and 
therefore every reel shall be provided with two 
hasps and w T ith four, if the reel is double, under 
the above penalty. 

Art. IX. The hanks of the first and the 
second quality shall not weigh more than 3 or 
4 ounces each ; nor those of the third and fourth 
quality more than from 6 to 8 ounces, under 
the above penalty. 

Art. X. Each hank as soon as it is taken 
off the hasp, shall be folded with two folds 
only; and shall not be tied with threads, nor with 
waste nor floss silk ; one end of the hank shall 
only be passed through the other, so that it may 
easily be known whether there is any fraud, 
and whether the reeling has been done accord- 
ing to this ordinance ; all this under the above 
penalty. 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 333 

Art. XI. The water of the boilers must be 
changed three times in a day ; at the same 
time the cocoons must be well cleared of their 
floss, in order that the silk may come out 
clean, equal, and without floss, as there must 
come out of each rub of cocoons (18 pounds and 
12 oz. French) at least about one pound of floss, 
regard being had to the quality of the cocoons, 
and this under the penalty of 10 livres for each, 
contravention, to be paid by the reelers. 

Art. XII. (This article is merely fiscal.) 

Art. XIII. The reelers shall be paid by the 
day, and not by the job. In case of contraven- 
tion the owner shall lose all the silk reeled, and 
the reeler shall pay a fine of 20 livres, be- 
sides the loss of her salary. 

Art. XIV. Every furnace shall be provided 
with a pipe or flue, of a sufficient height that 
the smoke may not fall on the hasp, under the 
penalty of 25 livres to be paid by the owners. 

Art. XV. The boilers or basins must be 
oval and thin, and a quarter of a ras deep, 
(one foot American measure) each provid- 
ed with a wooden cover. The reels shall 
have two sets of cog-wheels. The large hori- 
zontal wheel, or pinion, which moves the dis- 
tributing rod, shall have 35 cogs or teeth ; the 
one underneath called the star shall have 22 ; 
the one next to the nave of the hasp called the 



334 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

great bell, shall have 25 teeth ; and the one fixed 
to the centre of the nave, called the little bell, 
shall have 22. That machinery must always 
he kept in good condition, it is expressly prohi- 
bited to make use of reels with a cord without 
end ; the whole under the above penalty of 25 
livres. 

Art. XVI. Every reel employed in spinning 
silk of the first and second qualities, shall have 
a skillful person to turn the hasp, to whom it is 
prohibited to do it with the feet, under the pe- 
nalty of 5 livres. 

Art. XVII. It shall not be lawful for the 
reelers or any one else to cleanse the silk either 
on or out of the hasp, with needles, bodkins, or 
any such instruments, under the penalty of 10 
livres. 

Art. XVIII. Under the same penalty it is 
forbidden to smooth the hanks on the hasp or 
elsewhere with any kind of liquid, even with 
pure water, the silk must be cleansed with the 
hands alone, and with nothing else. 

Art. XIX. All silks that shall be found to 
be defective, and not to have been reeled each 
according to its quality, in observance of the 
forms and the rules prescribed in and by the 
preceding articles, shall be seized without re- 
mission, and be moreover liable to the above 
penalties, after a simple summary recognition 



SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 335 

of the defects; those silks shall be publicly 
burnt, saving to the owner his recourse against 
whom it may concern. The throwsters res- 
pectively shall be obliged to denounce the de- 
fective silks that they shall receive, and to 
make known the person from whom they shall 
have ^received them, under the penalty of 25 
golden crowns to be paid by the owners or di- 
rectors of filatures who shall be found in con- 
travention. 

Art. XX. As to ordinary silks, that is to say 
silks of the last quality, commonly called fag- 
gottry, after having separated, as is above pre- 
scribed, the good cocoons from the double or 
imperfect ones, the reeler shall in beating the 
cocoons, draw up the coarse filaments three 
times to the height of half a ras, (two feet, 
American measure,) above the boiler, that the 
silk may remain well purged and cleaned, un- 
der the penalty of 30 sous for each pound of silk. 

Art. XXI. In order to insure the due ob- 
servance of these regulations, the consulate and 
the ordinary judges shall be obliged in the reel- 
ing season, respectively to visit or cause to be vi- 
sited, by experienced persons, the places where 
silk shall be reeled, taking all necessary infor- 
mation to discover contraventions, so that they 
may proceed against the delinquents, and in- 
flict upon them the above penalties. The or- 



336 SILK CULTURIST'S MANUAL. 

dinary judges and those who shall be appointed 
by them to make such visits shall not demand 
or receive any fees for their labor, costs or 
charges, until the end of the law suit according 
to the taxations which shall be made by th€ 
consulate* 



SI 



di 

or 
to 

CO 




tures. 



APPENDIX. 




GmsouZs- Steam apparatus for SiZ/c filahan: 



APPENDIX. 

A. 

CORRESPONDENCE OF MR. BOUCHER OF 
PARIS, WITH MR. DU PONCEAU. 

From Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania. 

No. 1. 
From the Chevalier de Pougens, to Peter S. Du Ponceau. 

Paris, 23d August, 1830. 
I enclose a letter from M. Boucher, the first of our 
Parisian merchants in the silk line, Rue Francaise, No. 
2. I think I do you pleasure in communicating it to you. 
You may keep it. 



No. 2. 

Prom M. Boucher to the Chevalier de Pougens. 

Paris, 20th August, 1830. 

I am honored with your letter of the 12th, instant. I 

must tell you with frankness that I do not at all believe in 

the success of the beautiful project of your honorable friend 

Mr. Peter S. Du Ponceau, of Philadelphia ; I consider it 

as the dream of an honest man. In support of my opinion, 

I will cite two gigantic undertakings which have failed 

within the last few years. I must refer you to the nine 

first lines of the fourth page of the French pamphlet you 

have addressed to me.* Yes, sir, practice is every thing 



* This reference is to the French translation of the Report of 
the Committee on Agriculture, of the House of Representatives 
of the United States, of the i2th of March, 1830. 
The words referred to are in the English text as follows : " It is 



340 APPENDIX. 

in this art, and theory very little. Your young man, 
M. D'Homergue, may have a great deal of knowledge of 
the silk trade, but he cannot have the knowledge and ex- 
perience of old manufacturers ; a thousand obstacles will 
arrest his progress, as happened to men of great experience, 
of whom I am going to speak to you. 

In the southern part of Russia, on the confines of Persia, 
the Caucasian mountains produce a considerable qu tntity 
of cocoons, of which the inhabitants cannot make any use. 
Two Frenchmen, one of them Mr. Didelot, a great me- 
chanician, and the other a man from our southern depart- 
ments accustomed to the filature of silk, took with them 
an old director of filatures from St. Jean du Gard, and a 
few female reelers to found an establishment. They ob- 
tained from the emperor of Russia, large grants of land and 
buildings at Tifflis, large sums of money were advanced 
to them by the emperor ; they began to reel silk, — we 
have seen some small samples of it that left nothing to be 
wished for ; but they did nothing more, they could not 
supply their establishment with female reelers, the silk 
which those women reeled, apparently very fine, could not 
be thrown, and in the course of four years, all the capitals 
were sunk, the emperor abandoned them, one of them died, 
and the other returned to France, poor and destitute. The 
director of the filature and the female reelers could not 
return for want of money. 



further demonstrated in those Essays, (Mr. D'Homergue^s,) and 
in a memorial lately presented by the manufacturers of silk stuffs, 
of Lyons, in France, to the Minister of Commerce and Manufac- 
tures, that the art of filature can only be acquired by practical 
instruction, by some one intimately acquainted with, and accus- 
tomed to that process. That no human skill or ingenuity, unaid- 
ed by practical instruction, is capable of acquiring that art to any 
profitable extent.'* 



APPENDIX. 341 

The second undertaking is still more extraordinary ; it 
was made by a man of eminent merit in the sciences con- 
nected with the useful arts, and in the part of France 
where the greater quantity of silk is reeled (but by rote.) 
This undertaking has recently failed ; out of a joint stock 
of 1,100,000 francs, (220,000 dollars) the concerned will 
only have 1 5 per cent, of their capital, out of the pro- 
ceeds of the sale of the real property. I send you here- 
with a printed copy of their articles of co-partnership,* 
which you may send to your friend Mr. Du Ponceau. 

I do not mean to say that the project of establishing 
filatures of silk in the United States should be abandoned ; 
but it should be pursued with prudence, if profit is intended 
to be made by it, and it must not be believed that in two 
or three years America can supply England and France 
with part of the silk they want. 

The sixty young men to whom you will have in two 
years taught the theory of the art, will not be able to pro- 
duce any thing, if they have not an overseer to attend to 
the quality of the silks which they shall cause to be reeled, 
and facilitate the disposal of it in the way of trade. They 
will meet with a thousand obstacles from the female reelers, 
and will for some years only produce raw silk unfit to be 
thrown, and yet those silks will appear very fine. 

I would advise Mr. Du Ponceau to cause himself to be 
appointed director of a pattern filature, of which Mr. 
D'Homergue should be the overseer; that filature should 
be managed for account of the Government, and the object 
in view for the first year should be rather to instruct, and 
form female reelers, and male directors or overseers of fil- 
atures, than to make silk for sale. I would expend as little 
as possible in mechanical apparatus, and adjourn the em- 
ployment of GensouPs machinery ; it is only good for 



* This document was never received. 
30* 



342 APPENDIX. 

saving fuel in large establishments, and when old experi- 
enced females can he obtained, for raw silks of three and 
four cocoons fit for organzine, but which are entirely use- 
less for the raw silks employed in making sewing silk and 
singles ; the overseer may teach the art to grown women, 
and employ to turn the wheel girls from 12 to 15 years of 
age, who after a few months of exercise, will try to reel 
under the superintendence of the elder reelers ; who will 
turn the wheel for them some hours in the day. It is thus 
that the thing is practised in the best filatures of France. 

All those who have devoted themselves to the filature of 
silk, have imagined that the greatest merit was to be able 
to reel from three to four and from four to five cocoons, and 
to produce a thread regular to the eye ; but it is recognized 
by old reelers that it is easier to reel fine silk, than silk of 
12 to 15 and 15 to twenty cocoons. The most essential 
quality of raw silk is to be easily wound or thrown and 
twisted, the more waste results from those operations, the 
more imperfect the silk is, and the more expensive the 
throwing ; in my opinion the overseer, in order to hasten 
the instruction of the female reelers, should only permit 
them at first to reel threads of from 15 to 20 cocoons, the 
next day he should put another reeler at the basin, and 
employ the former in winding off the silk she had reeled 
the day before on bobbins, such as are used by the makers 
of sewing silk, so that it might be sold to them ready 
wound off. 

That your filature may reach the desirable degree of 
perfection for raw silk of from 15 to 20 cocoons, it would 
be necessary that like that of Bengal, called Cossimhusar> 
they should suffer in throwing only a waste of one half 
per cent., or like the French silks of Alais and the De- 
partment of Gard, only one or two per cent; all other silks 
in the world from 15 to 20 cocoons, are worse reeled. 
Those of Bursa, in Asiatic Turkey, lose from 6 to 8 per 



APPENDIX. 343 

cent., those of Calabria, called Girdle from 8 to 12; those 
of Spain, called Thomas of Valencia, from 6 to 8 ; those 
of Syria from 15 to 25. Those of Saloniki and the Morea 
are still worse. Instead of attempting to reel silk of every 
quality, the United States should supply the trade with raw 
silks of from 15 to 20 cocoons, in bales of the weight of 
one hundred kilograms, (about 200 lbs.) Some years 
afterwards the same reelers might spin 10 to 15, afterwards 
8 to 10 and 6 to 8 for trams : in about ten years only, you 
might reel 5 to 6 and 4 to 5 for organzine, if the cocoons 
have nerve enough to bear twisting. 

The skeins of Bengal silk are of the weight of two 
ounces ; with a good distributing rod, they might with- 
out inconvenience be made of 4 to 5 ounces. The skein 
must be all of one single thread, and so that it may be 
fastened by crossing the first and the last end. There 
must be a good deal of twisting or crossing the threads in 
reeling, and the knobs or gouts must not be suffered to pass 
through. The selecting or separating of the cocoons is a 
most essential thing; all the double cocoons that we call 
dupions are to be put aside to be separately reeled, the 
stained are to be separated in like manner. The yellow 
and white cocoons must be separately reeled, to obtain a 
lively yellow and a pure white. 

The silk will be handsomer, if the cocoons are first 
stirred in a basin of hot water of from 167° to 203° 
Fahr., then carried to the reeler's basin, the heat of 
which may be only 99°. You will thereby prevent the 
water being colored by the decoction of the chrysalis, and 
the silk from being tarnished. 

The water in the reelers' basin must be changed at 
least four times a day. The more persons there are to 
oversee and watch the reelers, the more attention they 
will pay to their threads and to their basins. The bro- 
ken threads must be tied up, and marriages (when two 



344 APPENDIX. 

threads accidently join by passing through the same hole 
in the distributing rod) must be taken off. This is done in 
reeling silks of 3 to 4 cocoons, and still better in those of 
15 to 20. 

They have been for some years in the kingdom of the 
Netherlands and in England, attending to the culture of 
the mulberry. Experiments have been made for raising 
silk worms, and it is pretended that they produce superb 
silks for their brilliancy. I am inclined to believe it, be- 
cause in those damp countries, vegetation being quicker 
and the worm better fed, they must yield more abundant 
crops ; but this speculation is only founded on experiments 
on a small scale. Mr. Christian asserts that a pound of 
silk may be made out of eight pounds of cocoons, while 
ten are commonly employed in silks of from 15 to 20 ; 
eleven in those from 10 to 15; twelve in those from 7 to 
8 ; thirteen in those from 5 to 6 and 6 to 7 ; and fourteen 
in those from 3 to 4 and 4 to 5 cocoons ; but I think it is 
an error, produced by the dryness of the cocoons at the 
time of making the experiments. In fact 12 lbs. of co- 
coons, just out of the nursery, produce some months after 
only 8 lbs. because the humidity which is in the gum 
evaporates, and the chrysalis itself loses of its weight by 
the baking of the cocoons, to prevent the moth from 
escaping. 

In cold damp countries the feeding of the silk worms 
is very uncertain ; because the leaves, wet by the rain, oc- 
casion diseases among the insects, and the white frost may 
in one single night destroy all the leaves, which is less 
likely to happen in Italy and the south of France. In 
those countries one half only of the eggs on hand is put to 
hatch, to divide the chance of an adverse temperature, and 
some weeks afterwards the other half is put out, if both suc- 
ceed, the crop is more abundant ; it rarely happens that the 
two crops fail. 



APPENDIX. 345 

If you think that this letter contains any thing that may 
be useful to your honorable friend, Mr. Du Ponceau, you 
may transmit it to him. If it should be agreeable to him, 
I shall continue with him this correspondence on the sub- 
ject of silk. I would recommend to him to begin on the 
small scale his experimental filature ; he has nothing but 
the reels and the basins to purchase, to begin to reel. 

I annex to this letter a sample of Spanish raw silk, reel- 
ed in the neighborhood of Valencia,* of the quality called 
Trams, of from 15 to 20 cocoons. This is only fit for 
thick stuffs or fine sewing silk. Raw silk of from 15 to 
20 cocoons, is best fitted for sewing silk. 

There is a great deal more to be said on the subject of 
filature ; but I am obliged for a beginning to confine my- 
self to what appears to me the most urgent, 
Accept, Monsieur le Chevalier, 

My respectful civility. 

L. J. BOUCHER. 

No. 3. 
From M. Boucher, to Mr. Du Ponceau. 

Paris, June 3, 1831. 
Sir : — I received on the 24th of last December, your 
interesting letter of the 18th November. A long sickness, 
of which I am now convalescent, has been the cause of 
my not having answered it sooner. I wish that the letter 
which I addressed on the 20th of August last, to your re- 
spectable friend the Chevalier de Pougens, may be useful 
to you. That friend will have sent to you some weeks 
ago, a pamphlet entitled " Du commerce des Soieries en 
France'''' (on the silk trade in France.) This work, writ- 
ten by a friend of mine, Mr. Leon De Teste, of Avignon, 
will interest you. 

* This sample was never received. 



346 APPENDIX. 

I have carefully examined your samples of white sew- 
ing- silk.* It is what we call demie grenade, or ronde- 
lette. It is made of dupions, (double imperfect cocoons, )t 
two threads of the raw silk are twisted together, then 
closely united by a second twist more or less strong, and 
thus sewing silk is made either white or to be colored. 
Our rondelettes, in the raw state,:}: are worth here 15 
francs per pound, avoirdupois, with a discount of 12 h. per 
cent. To this you must add one franc 25 centimes for dye- 
ing, 50 centimes for packing, the loss of weight after ex- 
tracting the gum and dyeing, 25 per cent, and thus you 
have the price of dyed rondelette, 21 francs per pound. 
You must compare this price, deducting the freight and im- 
portation duties, with that your women get for it at home. 
It is a branch of industry yet in its infancy : this silk is 
very irregular, as well in the reeling as in the twist- 
ing.^ 

Your project for introducing the filature of silk, is grand 
and deserving commendation ; do not, however, go too fast 
in endeavoring to spin fine threads ; you would do bad 
work. You will, indeed, have pupils well instructed, but 
the improvement of the female reelers by practice, will 
require years. As to the manufacturing of stuffs, it will 
require still longer time ; and moreover it remains to be 
decided whether the high price of labour in your country, 
will not be an obstacle. 

What you say of Mr. D'Homergue gives me great hopes 



* This was a sample of sewing silk made after the manner 
of Connecticut. It was a most favorable specimen. 

fThis sample was made of the best silk of the best cocoons. 

+The writer speaks here of the French sewing- silk. 

§The writer gives his opinion as delicately as he can, and 
reluctantly at last comes to this conclusion which cannot be mis- 
understood. 



APPENDIX. 347 

as to the reeling of raw silk ;* he must know how much 
the reelers of Mais, Anduse and St. Jean du Gard have 
improved their filatures, while not far from thence at Salon, 
the art has declined, and it is the same at Tours A 

Your experimental filature of ten reels, is becoming in- 
teresting. Your raw silk, spun of six cocoons, if the threads 
are regular, the ends tied in knots, marriages% taken off, 
and the silk made up in small skeins, will suit to make 
trams of two threads, and even organzine fit for the manu- 
facturing of Florence of Avignon — but it will have to 
stand the competition of our own silks, as well for the 
price as for the throwing. England at this moment is 
more in want of raw silks of from 3 to 4 and from 4 to 5 
cocoons, than from 5 to 6.§ I can say nothing of Mexico. 

I shall receive with great pleasure the sample of your 
raw silk which you intend to send me, and I shall tell you 
what may be done with it. I should prefer receiving silk 
of 15 to 20 cocoons, like the sample of Spanish silk called 



* The writer seems at first to have considered Mr. D'Ho- 
mergue as a mere dealer in silks, not familiar with the various 
processes of their manufacture. 

-j- If the art of extracting- silk from the cocoons were as 
easy as some pretend, there would not be so much difference be- 
tween the raw silk made in different places even in the same 
country. There is no such difference in the spinning- of cotton, 
flax, or hemp, the value of these depends solely on the quality 
of the material, not on the skill of the spinners. 

\ Marriage is when two threads in reeling*, through the inat- 
tention or unskilfulness of the spinner, pass through the same 
hole in the distributing- rod, and thus get improperly joined. 

§ The texture of our silk is so very fine, that the English 
manufacturers to whom samples of it were sent, have desired 
that it should be reeled from 7 to 8 cocoons, instead of 4 to 6, 
which is only equal they say to 3 to 4 of Italian silk. Notwith- 
standing this extreme fineness, our silk is found to excel in 
stregth and nerve. 



348 APPENDIX. 

tramas de Valencia, which I have sent you.* I would 
advise you to try your silk by means of a proof reel, which 
you might get made of 400 turns of a wheel of an ell's 
(44 French inches) diameter. 400 ells by their weight in 
grains of mark weight, give the standard weight (litre) 
which is called deniers.i Say 15 grains or deniers, sin- 
gle thread, or 30 deniers double thread. By this means 
you will be in harmony will all the manufactories of Eu- 
rope. 

I am like yourself, very much astonished that you have 
boiled your raw silk, without throwing it, either from tram 
or organzine ; it must have been twisted or crossed a great 
deal in the filature. The silks of Bursa in Asiatic Tur- 
key of 20 to 30 cocoons produce the same effect ; but with 
six cocoons it is most extraordinary. Do not trust always 
to it, however ; a little too much boiling in the dyeing pro- 
cess, may render the silk unfit to be wound. 

I do not conceive how you can have made a piece of 
stuff with one single thread of raw silk reeled from six 

* This sample was never received. 

j- The word denier means literally a pennyioeight, here it 
seems synonymous to grain. Denier is a technical term in the 
Engiish as well as in the foreign silk manufactures. 

The proof reel is employed to test the quality of the silks, a 
given length of thread well reeled gives an ascertained weight; 
if it should fall below or rise above the standard, it is considered 
il! reeled in proportion to the difference. 

The Chamber of Commerce of Lyons in France, caused a 
sample of American silk reeled by Mr. D'Homergue himself, to 
be thus tried by a sworn assayer. The report was, that " the 
raw silk obtained in Philadelphia was of an extraordinary quality, 
well adapted to all the uses of fabrication. Its degree of fineness 
was 16 deniers. It was fine, nervous, good, regular, clean, of a 
fine colour ; in short it united all the qualities that could be 
wished for. Its price was estimated at 26 francs per pound; at 
Nismes, afterwards it was estimated at 30 fr. 



APPENDIX. 349 

cocoons, it must have been very light.* I understand 
better that you should have trammed your second flag of 
four threads ; but your dyeing on the piece, particularly of 
two colors, must have made their silk look like an old 
piece of stuff dyed a second time, consequently without 
lustre and crispy .f 

I have observed that in a temperate climate, silk is al- 
ways more brilliant, nervous and mellow, with livelier co- 
lors than in very hot countries ; this comes from the na- 
ture of the mulberry leaf; but in those countries, there is 
the danger of white frosts and frequent rains, which are 
seldom experienced in Italy and India. This danger may 
perhaps cause the silk culture to be abandoned. Be so 
good as to give me some information respecting the tem- 
perature of the United States of America, particularly in 
the spring season. 

I have been assured that the English have invented ma- 
chines of iron and copper for throwing of silk, of much 
greater activity than that of our wooden throwsting mills. 

I am well aware, sir, that the love of your country and 
not the thirst of gain, induces your efforts for introducing 
the filature of silk into the United States. I wish you 
complete success, and shall willingly contribute to it in 
every thing that will depend upon me. I shall with plea- 
sure follow your progress. Write to me as often as you 
please, do not spare me, you will receive speedy answers. 
I am, &c. 

L. J. BOUCHER. 

*The writer speaks of the flag- presented to the Legislature 
of Pennsylvania. The warp of the stuff only was of one single 
thread, which was doubled for the woof. The stuff was indeed 
extremely light : twelve feet by six feet and a half, weighed only 
nineteen ounces. 

f This mode of dyeing was adopted for the flag presented to 
Congress, because it was thought proper to make it all of one 
31 



APPENDIX 
B. 

THE HISTORY OF THE SILK BILL: 

In a Letter from Peter S. Du Ponceau, LLD. to David \ 
B. Warden, Esq. late Consul of the United States, at 
Paris, Member of the American Philosophical Society, 
Corresponding Member of the Institute of France, fyc. 
$e* 

Philadelphia, 29th July, 1837. 
Dear Sir, 

I have received your favor of the 24th of May 
last, in which you desire me to send you a copy of the re- 
port made by the Committee on Agriculture to the House of 
Representatives of the United States, on the 12th of March, 
1830, which was accompanied by a letter from me to the 
chairman of that committee, dated the 23d of February 
preceding, in which, at his request, I suggested a plan for 

piece, and there was no time to prepare a suitable loom to weave 
different colours. In consequence of this the stuff had not the 
lustre it would otherwise have had ; but was not crispy. The 
warp of the flag presented to the Legislature of Pennsylvania 
was entirely white, which gave to the colors a changeable ap- 
pearance. This was wished to be avoided in the other. 

* This letter has never been before published. It was writ- 
ten to Mr. Warden, to enable him to give some information to 
the Agricultural Society of Paris, of which he is a member, on 
the subject of the silk culture in this country. Mr. Du Ponceau 
had only a few copies of it printed for distribution among his 
friends. He sent a copy of it to Mr. Randolph, Chairman of the 
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives of the 
United States, with his answer to some queries addressed to him 
by the Committee, who mentioned it in their report as an inter- 
esting document. 



APPENDIX. 351 

promoting the culture of silk in the United States, so as 
to make it a source of national wealth to this country. 

I regret to be obliged to say that, although that report 
has been several times published, in the first instance by 
order of Congress, and afterwards in newspapers and in the 
pamphlet form, it has not been in my power to procure a 
copy of it for you ; all those that I had, one excepted, 
which I preserve, have been distributed away, and have 
experienced the fate of such sibylline leaves. 

Your object, however, being, as I presume, to be in- 
formed of the history of the measure to which that report 
relates, and of the present state of the culture of silk in the 
United States, I shall endeavour, in some other way, to 
supply the place of the document you have asked for, and 
1 lay hold with pleasure of the GppGiiumiy yGu give iriej 
to commit to writing a brief narrative of the origin of that 
report, and the ill success that attended it. 

I am saved the trouble of giving you the history -of the 
silk culture prior to the arrival of Mr. D'Homergue in this 
country, by an article which I wrote for and published in the 
American Quarterly Review for December, 1831, of which 
I send you a copy ; you will find in it many things which 
would have had a place in this letter, but which I omit, to 
avoid repetition. I shall, therefore, begin with Mr. D'Ho- 
mergue' s arrival at Philadelphia, which was in the month 
of May, 1829. 

Mr. D'Homergue had been sent for from France by a 
society, then lately formed in this city, for promoting the 
culture of silk, who had unfortunately misconceived their 
object, and miscalculated their means. They were not 
in a situation to employ him. Without entering into use 
less details on this subject, suffice it to say that, shortly 
after his arrival, Mr. D'Homergue found himself a stran- 
ger in this country, and ignorant of the language, manners, 
and customs. 



352 APPENDIX. 

In that situation, he applied to me for advice. I saw. his 
letter of recommendation to the society. He was repre- 
sented by their agent to be a person fully capable of fulfill- 
ing the objects which they had in view. He had been ex- 
amined at Marseilles by men skilled in the art, and found 
sufficient. In his conversations with me, I found him intelli- 
gent, and consistent in the explanations which he gave of the 
various processes of reeling and throwing silk, of making, 
sewing silk, and of various manufactures of that article. I 
was struck with the idea that his acquisition might be 
important to our country, and I determined to take him by 
the hand. 

The first thing to be done was to make his talents- 
known. He could not write our language, nor did he 
know the manner of addressing an American public. On 
my part, I knew very little of the silk business, to which 
I had never before turned my attention. I put myself un- 
der his tuition. He initiated me into the mysteries oila fila- 
ture and le moulinage (reeling and throwing of silk) ; I 
read some books upon the subject, and, having him at my 
elbow, I wrote and published in his name, in the National 
Gazette, a series of essays entitled " American Silk," 
which became very popular, and were reprinted in almost 
all the newspapers in the United States. While writing 
those articles, I was struck with the importance as well as 
the difficulty of the art of reeling, without which the raw 
material not only cannot be manufactured, but cannot be 
exported, because the cocoons will rot in a sea voyage, and 
are too bulky and too light to bear a heavy freight. I ob- 
served that raw silk was an article in great demand in Eu- 
rope, and that it might be made to us a source of consider- 
able profit. I conceived the plan of dealing with silk as 
we had done with cotton, that is to say, to confine ourselves 
for ten or perhaps, twenty years to the exportation of the raw 
material, during which time we should become perfect in 
the mode of preparing it for foreign manufacture, and the% 



APPENDIX. 353 

and not before, we might begin to manufacture our- 
selves. The other arts, such as throwing, weaving, fyc. f 
we might learn from English manufacturers; but they 
could not teach us that of filature, because their country 
did not produce cocoons. None, therefore, but a French- 
man or an Italian could be to us a proper instructor in that 
art. 

The essays were chiefly directed to developing and urg- 
ing the adoption of this system. Some writers who had 
passed before, by means of some superficial knowledge? 
for great adepts in matters relating to silk, were impelled 
by their vanity to attack this plan in the newspapers, and 
pretended that there was no difficulty in reeling silk, and 
that we might begin at once to manufacture. I took no 
notice of those publications, and, therefore, they produced 
little effect. The general opinion was in favour of my 
system. This induced me to publish the essays with an 
explanatory preface, in the form of a pamphlet, of which I 
distributed the copies far and wide. I have sought in vain 
for one to send to you. 

This was in the month of January, 1830. Congress 
were then in session. As a mark of respect, as is usual in 
such cases, I addressed to them a copy of the essays, not 
expecting any thing else but they would give it a place in 
their library. They, however, were pleased to refer it to- 
their Committee on Agriculture, then presided over by the 
venerable Ambrose Spencer, formerly chief justice of the 
state of New York, whose high character is undoubtedly 
known to you. I soon received a letter from that gentle- 
man, in the name of the committee, approving of my plan r 
expressing the wish that Mr. D'Homergue should be em- 
ployed in a national school of filature, and desiring me to* 
confer with him upon the subject. 

I accordingly conferred with Mr. D'Homergue, and r 
with his agreement, I proposed to the commitiee that h®> 
31* 



354 APPENDIX. 

should be employed to instruct sixty young- men in the art? 
of reeling silk, and preparing it for exportation, so as to fit 
them to be afterwards directors of filatures. You know- 
that the manual operation of reeling in large filatures is 
performed in Europe by females, under the direction of an 
overseer, as otherwise much loss would result from their un- 
skilfulness, or from their neglect or inattention — the profits 
in this business depending on the quantity of well reeled 
silk which is daily produced. Twenty women, at least, 
were to be employed in the normal filature at or near Phi- 
ladelphia, who should work at the reel before the young 
men, who also should be taught the manipulation practi- 
cally, that they might direct it with effect, and instruct wo- 
men in their turn. Their instruction was to last two years ; 
afterwards it was expected that they should be employed 
by the planters in the south, and companies in the north, 
and in the meanwhile the culture of silk, which was fast ad- 
vancing in different states, might produce cocoons enough 
to set the business agoing. The young men were to be 
taught gratuitously, and maintain themselves at their own 
or their friend's expence. The women were to be paid 
for their labour. 

Mr. D'Homergue was to receive from the government 
forty thousand dollars at the end of the two years, deduct- 
ing therefrom the amount of the necessary expences, such 
as the hire or purchase of a lot of ground, the erection of 
buildings, the machinery, the purchase of cocoons, and 
other incidental expences, which were to be advanced by 
the government, but the materials at the end to remain the 
property of Mr. D'Homergue. I offered to be his securi- 
ty for the performance of his engagements, provided h& 
were placed under my inspection and control. My per- 
sonal services were to be gratuitous. 

My object in proposing this plan was to introduce into 
the country a perfect and uniform method of reeling silk, 



AFPEND1X. 35& 

and preparing it for exportation or manufacture, but chief- 
ly with a view to the former ; so that when American raw 
silk should have been imported into Europe, its name alone 
should have secured its reception and a favourable sale* 
Those who are acquainted with this branch of trade, know 
of what immense advantage this would have been to our 
country. As to the planting of mulberry trees, and raising 
of silk worms, I thought it might be left to experience, and 
the instruction to be derived from the numerous books 
published upon these subjects; but the preparation of good 
merchantable raw silk, and the providing of a market for 
cocoons, appeared to me what was to-be attended to in the 
first place ; the rest, I thought, would follow of course,. 

I made the above proposal in a letter to the committee, 
who gave it their full approbation. I was desired to pre- 
sent it in the form of a bill, which I did, and the bill, such 
as I drew it up, with a trifling addition, was laid before Con- 
gress with my letter, and a most flattering report from the 
committee, warmly recommending the measure. It is the 
same report which you have desired me to send to you, 
and of which a copy cannot now be had. 

The session, however, was too far advanced to take up 
the business, and it was of course postponed to the next 
meeting. But, to all appearance the report was most fa- 
vorably received. 
1 I had then a whole summer and the greater part of the 
autumn to dispose of before Congress should meet again, 
I determined to spare no trouble or expense to convince 
the nation of the advantages of a good method of reeling 
silk, and of the exportation of the raw material to Europe. 
I established in this city a filature often reels, and twenty 
women; went to Connecticut to purchase cocoons, and 
bought all that were brought to me from different parts of 
the Union. I put the whole under the direction of Mr. 
D'Homergue. Our filature was open to all who chose to 



g56 APPENDIX. 

visit it. Our women learned to reel with amazing facility, 
and though some of my friends in Europe wrote to me 
that it would take ten years before they were perfect in 
the art, I was convinced that they would compass it in a 
much shorter time. 

I was not satisfied with that. I wished to display some- 
thing that would strike the public eye, and maintain Con- 
gress in their apparently good disposition. I had two 
flags of the United States made of American silk, each 
twelve feet long and six feet wide ; one to be presented to 
Congress, and the other to the Legislature of Pennsylvania. 
I had also some small articles made, such as cravats, hand- 
kerchiefs, <fcc, which, together with one of the flags, were 
exposed to public view at the exhibition of the Franklin 
Institute in this city. I also sent a quantity of my raw 
silk to England and France, to be manufactured into 
stuffs, and distributed among our friends in this country. 

Congress met in December, 1830. That was what was 
called the short session, and lasted only three months. 
Almost the whole of it was taken up by the trial of a judge 
in the Senate, at which the members of the House of Repre- 
sentatives were present. Nevertheless, a day was appoint- 
ed near the end of the session for the discussion of the 
silk bill. In the mean time, I presented to the house the 
flag of the Union. I may say with truth, that it was re- 
ceived with enthusiasm. On a most flattering report of 
the Committee on Agriculture, Congress resolved, that the 
flag should be displayed in the hall of their sittings, over 
the full length picture of General Lafayette, where it still 
remains.* There is no doubt that if the bill could have 
been brought on that session, it would have passed almost 
unanimously.. 



* The flag" presented to the House of Representatives of Penn- 
sylvania, was received in the same flattering" manner, and order- 
ed to displayed in a conspicuous place lit their hall. 



APPENDIX. 357 

Unfortunately, on the day when it was to have been 
taken up, Mr. Spencer, the chairman of the Agricultural 
Committee, who was to have led the discussion on our 
side, and whose presence could not be dispensed with, was 
engaged as counsel in an important cause before the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. The argument lasted 
several days, and the opportunity was lost. Congress ad- 
journed without discussing the bill. 

But so zealous were our friends on the subject, that Mr. 
Spencer, passing through this city on his return to the state 
of New York, where he resides, brought me a paper 
signed by eighty-six members of Congress, expressing their 
sense of the importance of the silk bill, and their opinion 
that it would have passed at the last session, if it could then 
have been taken up. Mr. Spencer told me that it would 
have been signed by many more, but that it was done at 
the close of the session when a great number of the mem- 
bers had already departed for their homes, and others were 
preparing to depart. Those who signed that paper were 
afraid that Mr. D'Homergue might return to France — that 
I might get tired of the trouble and expense which this bu- 
siness occasioned me, and for which I never expected to 
receive compensation, and that it would consequently fail.. 
I subjoin to this letter a copy of that paper. It is a li- 
teral copy. I have made no alteration in it, except inter- 
verting the order of the signatures, in order to show to 
what states the signers respectively belonged. 

Thus I was encouraged to proceed. I went on with 
my filature, but not to the same extent as I had done the 
preceding year. I sent some of my raw silk to Mexico, 
where it found a good market. I sent some to England 
and France, not to be sold, but to be manufactured into 
gros de Naples, and returned to this country. The silk 
sent to England lost only three and five eights per cent., 
by what is called waste (dechet) ; that sent to Lyons lost 



358 APPENDIX. 

more, but the stuff made of it was more delicately wrought, 
I kept up an active correspondence with those countries. 

The silk I sent to England excited much attention there* 
Mr. Ewart, the member for Liverpool, mentioned it in 
Parliament. The newspapers in London, Liverpool, and 
Manchester, teemed with articles on the subject. The 
English were led to expect a new source of supply of raw 
silk for their manufactures, and we a new branch of Ame- 
rican exports. A number of silk throwsters, weavers, 
dyers, and silk manufacturers of various kinds, came to 
this country in the hope of finding employment ; but were 
for the most part sadly disappointed, and many obliged to 
return home. 

Such was the state of things when Congress met again 
in December, 1831. I went with Mr. D'Homergue to 
Washington, determined to remain there until the silk bill 
should be disposed of. During the session, which was 
very long, I received from England some of the pieces of 
gros de Naples manufactured out of my silk, and distri- 
buted them among our friends in the capital, by whom 
they were much admired. Those from France did not ar- 
rive until after the adjournment. Every thing at first look- 
ed fair and prosperous ; but the scene was suddenly 
changed. 

The tariff question was brought before Congress, and 
produced violent party animosities. The word manufac- 
ture, which had inadvertently been introduced into the 
title of the silk bill, became hateful to the opponents of the 
protecting system, and they fancied that if it should pass, 
it would lead to the laying of high duties on the importa- 
tion of foreign silk goods. Yet the bill still had friends of 
both parties ; but as the contest grew warmer, so as almost 
to threaten a dissolution of the Union, their number gradual- 
ly diminished, and at last it became decidedly a party 



APPENDIX. 359 

question. The French minister, M. Serurier, no doubt 
from patriotic motives, opposed it with all his might — not, 
that I know of, by diplomatic communications, but by 
speaking warmly against it wherever he found an oppor- 
tunity. He saw in it the source of great injury to France, 
while the manufacturers of that country rejoiced in the 
hope of being supplied with the raw material that they so 
much wanted. Whether that gentleman's opposition had 
any influence on the final result, it is not in my power to 
say. I rather believe it had not, though some members 
might have been afraid lest the passage of the bill might 
prevent or delay the payment of the indemnity, which af- 
terwards brought the two countries on the verge of a war 
with each other. 

The times were now unpropitious. My friends advised 
me to suffer the business to go over to another session ; 
but I had already gone to more expense than I could con- 
tinue to afford. I pressed Congress for a decision, and a 
day was accordingly appointed for that purpose. 

On that day, the 22d of May, the bill was taken up and 
discussed in committee of the whole ; the majority declared 
in its favour, and reported it to the House the next morn- 
ing. A warm discussion took place, but in the interval 
the opponents of the measure had rallied, and their pha- 
lanx was not be resisted. I have been credibly informed 
that a paper was circulated in the House, stating that if 
the bill should pass, the President would be obliged to put 
his veto upon it, and that he hoped that his friends would not 
place him in that unpleasant situation. I am well satisfied 
that such a paper was circulated ; but I believe that it was 
without the knowledge or participation of General Jack- 
son. Extraordinary, and, indeed, some unfair means were 
employed. Several of the members who had signed the 
paper brought to me by Mr. Spencer, as I have before men- 
tioned, voted against the bill, and some absented them- 
selves when the question was taken. 



360 APPENDIX. 

The bill, however, was rejected only by a small majo- 
rity. Among the members who voted against it there were 
some, undoubtedly, who conscientiously believed the mea- 
sure to be unconstitutional, and that Congress had no pow- 
er to appropriate money to such a purpose ; others were 
political economists, who thought that governments should 
not meddle with such matters, and whose favorite motto 
was, Let us alone. But on the whole it is plain to me 
that the bill was lost on party grounds, and not otherwise. 

I was not present at the last day's discussion, but I was 
at that of the day preceding, in committee of the whole. 
The debates on both sides were published at the time in 
the newspapers. It gives me great pleasure to say, that 
full justice was done by all parties to my conduct and to 
my motives ; and not a word was said that could be in the 
least personally painful to me, but, on the contrary, the 
greatest courtesy was shown even by my most inveterate 
opponents. The principal argument employed, was that 
the measure was unconstitutional. The most violent con- 
tented themselves with saying that it could only serve the 
purpose of setting up a foreigner (Mr. D'Homergue) in 
business, and that the public money could not be applied 
to such an object. 

I had the pleasure to find that the members from Penn- 
sylvania who were present, although almost all of the part- 
ty opposed to the bill, voted (all but two) m its favour, 
and so did the members from Connecticut, whose jealou- 
sy had been attempted to be excited. The south, general- 
ly, voted against it. 

Thus finally defeated in my patriotic design, I took leave 
of my friends and returned home immediately. I made 
no complaints nor appeals to the people in the newspapers 
or otherwise, but turned my thoughts to other objects. I 
found that I had lost three years of my time, and about 
four thousand dollars of my money, in pursuing a phan- 



APPENDIX. 351 

torn, which at last eluded my grasp. I awoke, as from a 
dream, and consoled myself with the proverb which says* 
that the shortest follies are the best. 

Five years have now elapsed since that time, and you 
will be, perhaps, curious to know what has been done in 
that interval with respect to silk. The impulse that was 
given still continues ; but a different course is pursuing 
from that which I had pointed out. Mulberry trees are 
planted in every direction ; associations with large capitals 
are formed and forming, for promoting the culture and 
manufacture of silk ; the Legislatures of the states are enact- 
ing laws for the same object; but I do not see any where 
& filature or a market for cocoons, such as I had establish- 
ed at Philadelphia, where they were brought to me from 
all parts of the Union, and continued to be brought long 
after my filature ceased to be in operation. But they found 
no purchasers. 

The people are beginning where, in my opinion, they 
should end, by establishing manufactories. 1 have said 
that a great number of silk throwsters and manufacturers 
had come to this country from England. Those men, 
wanting employment, have persuaded the people to manu- 
facture the raw silk of China and Bengal, as they do in 
Great Britain, which they have begun to do, in a small 
way however, in the New England states ; while else- 
where the farmers who raise silk worms, employ them in 
making sewing silk after the manner of Connecticut.* No- 
body thinks of producing and preparing the raw material 
as an article for exportation. The opinion generally pre- 
vails that there is no kind of difficulty in the art of filature, 
and that any woman may reel silk perfectly without having 
received any instruction. I fear that much money will b e 
sunk in these ill-concerted attempts. 



With the common spinning- wheel. 

32 



362 APPENDIX. 

The American people are impatient and wish to do eve- 
ry thing at once. Go a-liead is their motto, and they are 
not deterred by obstacles. Nothing to them appears im- 
possible ; they plunge headlong into a scheme, and pur- 
sue it until they break, or until it succeeds. They now 
want to be silk manufacturers. I wanted them to be silk 
growers, and exporters of raw silk in the first instance. 
Time will show who was in the right. 

My opinion is that large sums of money will be sunk 
in the course now pursuing, but that in the end America 
will be a great silk growing and silk manufacturing country. 
Americans must have their own way. It often reminds 
me of the answer of a French courtier to the unfortunate 
Maria Antoinette, who asked of him a small favour: — "Ma- 
dame, si la chose est possible, elle est dejafaitc; si elle 
est impossible, elle sefera."* It is the American charac- 
ter, drawn to the life. The word impossible is not in 
their dictionary. 

I am, with great regard and esteem, 

Dear sir, your most obedient servant, 

PETER S. DU PONCEAU. 
David B. Warden, Esq., Paris. 



DOCUMENT REFERRED TO IN THE ABOVE 
LETTER. 

We, the undersigned members of the twenty -first Con- 
gress, feeling a great anxiety that Mr. John D'Homergue 
should remain in the United States for the purpose of in- 
structing the youth of this country in the art of reeling silk, 
and in the various processes for preparing the same for 
manufacture or exportation, agreeably to the provisions of 



* Madame, if the thing be possible, it is already done ; if im- 
possible it shall be done. 



APPENDIX. 



363 



the bill for the promotion of the growth and manufacture 
of silk, now pending, and which could not be acted upon 
for the want of time, express our decided opinion that the 
bill would have met the approbation of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, and that we consider it a measure of great 
national importance, as regards the industry of the country, 
in the profitable employment of various grades of its citi- 
zens, and as creating a staple which will not only save to 
the nation many millions of dollars, now annually drawn 
from the country, but will introduce speedily a new branch 
of manufacture of incalculable value to the United States. 
March 1, 1831, 



MAINE. 

George Evans, 
Samuel Butman. 

VERMONT. 

W. Cahoon, 
Benjamin Swift, 
Horace Everett. 

MASSACHUSETTS, 

J. Varnum, 
E. Everett, 
George Grennell, 
Joseph G. Kendall, 
John Reed, 
Joseph Richardson, 
John Bailey, 
James L. Hodges, 
B. W. Crowninshield, 
John Davis, 
H. W. Dwight. 

RHODE ISiAND* 

Tristam Burges, 
Dutee J. Pearce. 



CONNECTICUT. 

R. J. Inge rs oil, 
Noyes Barber, 
J. W. Huntington, 
W. W. Ellsworth, 
William L. Storrs. 

NEW YORK. 

A. Spencer, 

John D. Dickinson, 
H. B. Cowles, 
T. Beckman, 

B. Arnold, 
Robert S. Rose, 
Ch. G. De Witt, 
Isaac Finch, 

J.. Hawkins, 
Abm. Bokee, 
John W. Taylor, 
Phineas L. Tracy, 
Henry R. Storrs, 
Henry C. Martindale, 
Timothy Childs. 



364 



APPENDIX. 



NEW JERSEY. 

Lewis Condict. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Wm. McCreery, 
Henry A. Muhlenberg-, 
John Gilmore, 
W. Ramsey, 
George G. Leiper, 
Joseph Hemphill, 
Samuel A. Smith, 
T. Hartley Crawford, 
Thomas H. Sill, 
J. B. Sutherland, 

D. II. Miller, 
John B. Sterigere, 
R. Coulter, 
Joseph Fry, Jr., 
Harmar Denny, 
Innis Green, 
Joshua Evans. 

DELAWARE. 

Kensey Johns, Jr., 

MARYLAND. 

G. C. Washington, 

E. K. Wilson, 
G. E. Mitchell, 

B. I. Semmes. 

VIRGINIA. 

P. Doddridge, 
John Taliaferro, 

C. F. Mercer, 
Robert Craig-. 



NORTH CAROLINA, 

Lewis Williams, 
William B. Shepard, 
Edmund Deberry, 

D. L. Barringer. 

KENTUCKY. 

R. P. Letcher, 
Joel Yancey, 
R. M. Johnson, 
J. Kincaid. 

TENNESSEE, 

John Blair, 
David Crockett. 

OHIO. 

Samuel F. Vinton, 

E. Whittlesey, 
Joseph Vance, 

W. Creighton, Jr. s 
Wm. W. Irvin, 
Joseph H. Crane, 
H. H. Leavitt. 

LOUISIANA. 

E. D. White, 
H. H. Gurley. 

INDIANA. 

John Test, 
R. Boon. 

ALABAMA. 

R. E. B. Baylor. 

MISSOURI. 

Sp, Pettis. 

FLORIDA. 

Jos. M. White. 



APPENDIX. 
C. 

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS CONCERNING 
THE SIK BILL. 

No. 1. 
Twenty-first Congress of the United States — First Ses- 
sion. — In the House of Representatives, 

January 27th, 1830. 
The Speaker laid before the House a letter from Peter 
S. Du Ponceau, of Philadelphia, member of the American 
Philosophical Society, accompanied by a work on Ameri- 
can Silk, and the best means of rendering it a source of 
individual and national wealth ; which letters and the ac- 
companying work, were referred to the Committee on Agri- 
culture. 

February, 10. 
Mr. Spencer from the Committee on Agriculture, re- 
ported the following resolution, viz : 

That the Committee on Agriculture be directed to in- 
quire into the expediency of adopting measures to extend 
the cultivation of the White Mulberry tree in the United 
States; to promote the culture of Silk, by introducing the 
necessary machinery for reeling the same from cocoons, and 
acquiring and disseminating practical knowledge therein, 



No. 2. 
Letter from the Hon. Ambrose Spencer, Chairman of the 
Committee on Agriculture to Mr. Du Ponceau. 
Washington, Feb. 11th, 1830. 
Sir, — The Committee on Agriculture reported yester- 
day a resolution, which was adopted by the House, and 
which you will see in the papers. 

I have read with great interest your valuable preface to 
Mr. D'Homergue's Essays on American Silk, having read 
in the papers, the greater part of his essays before I came 
32* 



366 APPENDIX. 

here; the Committee are unanimously of opinion that 
measures ought to he taken to secure to the nation the ser- 
vices of this gentleman, as an instructor to our people in 
the art of reeling silk from the cocoons. I am instructed 
hy them to inquire of him through you, whether he would 
take charge of an establishment (say in this city) and in- 
struct pupils in that art — what, salary he would expect — 
how long he would continue to give instruction — what pe- 
riod of time would be necessary to teach a pupil the 
art of reeling. En short we wish all the information ne- 
cessary to be laid before Congress on the subject of gain- 
ing to the nation this invaluable art. My proposition to 
the Committee was, 1st. To secure the services of Mr. 
D'Homergue. 2nd. To get an appropriation for the erec- 
tion or hiring suitable buildings in this city, to accommo- 
date say 215 pupils, from the States and Territories in the 
same proportion as we are represented in the House of 
Representatives, the persons to be designated by the Ex- 
ecutives of the Slates. 3rd. That these scholars shall be 
taught the art by Mr. D'Homergue. 4th. That others 
shall succeed them, if it shall he deemed necessary to the 
diffusion of this knowledge. 

I have selected this plan with a view to avoid Constitu- 
tional objections. 

You have thus an imperfect sketch of my plan, which 
I hope you will examine, and make such suggestions as 
occur to you. 

If we succeed in it, the nation will owe you the deepest 
obligation of gratitude, for I am enthusiastically not only 
your disciple on this subject, but am anxious to see it car- 
ried into immediate operation. 

I beg you to write me freely and fully. 
With high esteem and respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

AMBROSE SPENCER. 

Peter S. T>v Ponceau, Esq. 



appk.mjix. <jf)7 

No. 3. 
Philadelphia, February 22, 1S2UK 
Sir: — I am honored with your Letter of the lith in- 
Btanti whir;h J have immediately communicated to Mr. 
D'Homergue, ifo desires me to convey to yon, and the 
honorable committee, hi for (he favor- 

able sentiments that you have expressed towards him ; ho 
withe* it also to be known and understood, that, if sue* 
illy encouraged, it is his intention to settle himself 
permanently in this eo whiob ho has Learned to • - 

pnsefc 

The cot • - of fre- 

ouent conferences between him and me- Tho Marions mat- 
that it brought to o sonsiderat on, and the 
part to Jay at once my whole new of the subject be- 
fore (he honorable committee, and to do it with a:-; mnc 
i>le of that clearness and pr< .-•- -.■ r 

plicated a subject requi en the 

e of this answer hai wig delayed. The 

committee will, I he hat follows, that no 

unnecessary tirno has boon employed. 

Tho object of the commit ears to bo to 

throughout tho United States, tho knowledge of tho art of 
-ilk in, all Us varieties, for tho domestic and 
foreign markets; and that it should be done in the she 
timo, in tho easiest manner, and with as little expense as 
-Jo. 
U'.w a new to this object, a plan has been proposed 
igh you, and several questions asked of Mr. I/Jfo- 
mergue, with > obtaining his assi anee to 

ing it into execution. The plan is tho establishment 
... of filaturo in tho District of Columbia, 

in which Mr. D'Homergue should bo employed as an m- 

struetor at \ h.ry. 

This plan is formed on a not and boar.-; the 



368 APPENDIX. 

of the character of a great nation ; it is such as would 
naturally occur to a man of liberal views and an enlarged 
mind, on considering the subject unconnected with its 
practical details. The knowledge of those details, how- 
ever, which Mr. D'Homergue possesses, has convinced 
him that it would be liable to many inconveniences, which 
he hopes it will not be thought improper in him to suggest. 
In the first place, it would be very expensive, complicated 
in its mode of execution, and liable to various abuses ; and, 
above all, it would be subject to the risk of ultimate fail- 
ure, by bringing Mr. D'Homergue in contact, and, per- 
haps in collision, with persons not acquainted with his art, 
to which his ignorance of the language, manners, and 
usages of this country, might not a little contribute. This 
last reason alone would deter him from acceding to the 
committee's proposal. 

For my part, sir, I must frankly acknowledge that, after 
giving the subject all the consideration in my power, I have 
myself come to the same conclusions as Mr. D'Homergue, 
and I am satisfied that it is not by employing him as a 
salaried instructor that the object of the committee is most 
likely to be attained. On the contrary, I am fully persuad- 
ed, that a degree of confidence placed in that gentleman, 
in the manner I shall presently mention, will produce to 
the nation the most satisfactory results. 

After this candid statement, the committee will no doubt 
expect that I should explain to them Mr. D'Homergue's 
views, and my own, on this interesting subject. I shall 
do it with due diffidence ; but, at the same time, with per- 
fect freedom. 

The committee, I am very sure, will do justice to my 
motives, and be satisfied that my feelings are congenial with 
their own. I shall lay before them a plan, the result of 
which is to be the dissemination of the art of reeling silk, 
in all its varieties, throughout the United States, in the 



APPENDIX. 369 

short space of three years, and at the moderate expense 
of forty thousand dollars. So far I am convinced that the 
views of the committee will be fully met. They will 
also be pleased to find, that its execution must naturally 
be followed by the introduction of silk manufactures in- 
to the country. In other respects I must own that it dif- 
fers from that which the committee had formed ; but, in a 
matter of this importance, they will be willing to hear, 
though they should ultimately disapprove. 

Before I begin to state the offers of Mr. D'Homergue, 
and the plan founded upon them, it is necessary that I 
should mention a few introductory facts. 

The mechanical part of reeling silk in France and Italy 
is performed entirely by women. There are in those 
countries what are called great and small filatures. The 
former are large establishments, in which from 50 to 100 
reels are at work ; the women employed there are under 
the superintendence of a director, who is thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the mechanical as well as the mercantile 
part of the business. Those directors are brought up to 
the profession. The women employed in those large 
filatures are well paid, and generally remain there till 
the end of their days. The small, or, as we should call 
them, domestic filatures, are carried on in families, by the 
farmers' wives and daughters, who work from one to five 
reels, either with cocoons of their own raising, or those 
they purchase of their neighbors, by which they make a 
handsome income at the end of the year. Those women, in 
general, have preserved the art in their families from gene- 
ration to generation ; hence, you may have seen in the me- 
morial of the merchants of Lyons, which I had the honor 
to send you, that these merchants complain of their imper- 
fect routine ; I believe their complaints are in part from jea- 
lousy, and the spirit of monopoly ; still I am not unwilling 
to believe, that the silk from domestic reels is not as per- 



370 APPENDIX. 

feet as that which comes from the large filatures ; it sells, 
however, and the manufacturers know how to employ it. 
It must be added, that the French and Italian female reel- 
ers perform their work mechanically, and are, in other re- 
spects, of the grossest ignorance: few of them, if any, 
knowing even how to read and write. Our American wo- 
men will prove themselves far superior in every respect, 
and their domestic filatures Avill produce perfect silk, be- 
cause they will not have received their instruction through 
their great-grand-mothers, before the art was improved as 
it is now. 

In this country there should be both great and small or 
domestic filatures ; the former will be the depositories of 
all the improvements in the arts ; the latter will contribute 
to the ease of families ; and there is no danger of there 
being an excess of the article in the market. There must 
be filatures of all sizes and all dimensions, according to 
the means of those who will undertake them. Full and 
free competition can alone ensure success. 

The first thing to be done, therefore, is to instruct, in 
the art of reeling silk, a sufficient number of young men, 
to disseminate it at once through the country. Those 
young men will, when instructed, set up filatures with a 
greater or lesser number of reels, according to their means ; 
in which they will be obliged to employ women, who will 
not, as in Italy and France, remain all their lives on wa- 
ges, but, after a certain time, will return to their families, 
or get married and set up small filatures of their own, 
which they can do at a trifling expense. They will, pro- 
bably, also plant a few mulberry trees on their farms, 
and the females of the family will raise silk worms, and 
produce cocoons to be reeled in the house. This is the 
course which the thing must infallibly take. 

Thus much being premised, I now proceed to state the 
offers of Mr. D'Homergue. He offers to instruct sixty 



APPENDIX. 371 

young men, to be designated by the Government of the 
United States. They should be healthy, intelligent, ac- 
tive, and dexterous youths, between the ages of eighteen 
and twenty-five, and having as much as possible a natural 
disposition to the mechanical arts. They will be instruct- 
ed in the theory and practice of the art of reeling silk from 
the cocoons into the various forms or qualities of raw silk. 
They will be taught the theoretical and practical, the mer- 
cantile as well as the mechanical parts of the business, with 
the most modern improvements. They will, in short, at 
the end of the course of instruction, be enabled to take 
charge, as directors, of a filature, however extensive, to 
instruct women, and, in short, to do every thing in that 
branch which Mr. D'Homergue may do himself. 

The course of instruction will require two years ; that 
is to say, two seasons, from the 1st of July to the middle 
or end of November in each year. The young men will 
board themselves where they please in the neighborhood 
of the filature, which they will be expected regularly to 
attend during working hours, to receive their instruction. 
The remainder of the year they may dispose of themselves 
as they or their friends shall think proper. 

It is intended by Mr. D'Homergue to erect his filature 
in the vicinity of Philadelphia, as the most convenient 
place, for reasons which shall hereafter be explained. 

The course of instruction can only begin on the 1st of 
July, 1631; the present year must be employed in pre- 
parations. Mr. D'Homergue will have, before the 1st of 
July, to travel through several of the States, in order to 
secure cocoons, and at the same time he will instruct the 
farmer, as much as will be in his power, respecting the 
culture of the mulberry tree, and the raising of silk worms. 
Every year, in the winter or spring, during the three 
years, he will travel in the same manner, varying his course 
as much as possible ; this will be necessary, on account 



372 APPENDIX. 

of the scarcity of cocoons, which must be expected to last 
some time, and probably to the end of the contemplated 
three years. In the approaching Summer he will establish 
a filature near Philadelphia, with at least twenty women, 
so that the young men, at the next season, when their course 
will begin, may see it at work, and learn how such an es- 
tablishment is to be directed. In the next year the filature 
will be enlarged for the immediate instruction of the sixty 
pupils, who it is expected will be sent all at the same time. 
Improved machinery will be imported from Europe, and 
every thing necessary will be done in the course of the three 
years, that the young men maybe fully instructed, and en- 
abled, when they return home, to set up filatures in their 
respective neighborhoods. 

Speaking of machinery, I cannot avoid noticing the cele- 
brated apparatus of M. Gensoul, so often mentioned in the 
memorial of the merchants of Lyons, and which it con- 
templates to introduce into all the filatures of France. As 
it is very expensive the memorial recommends to the 
French "Government to distribute bounties to an amount 
not less than 600,000 francs ($120,500) by way of en- 
couragement to those who will introduce it into their esta- 
blishments. 

This apparatus can only be employed in large filatures 
of at least thirty reels. Its advantages are the following: 

1. It saves the time of reelers, who are not incommo- 
ded by fire and smoke, and are not obliged to stop and feed 
their fires, as the hot water is conveyed by pipes to their 
several basins, and the furnaces to each reel are unneces- 
sary. 

2. It preserves the purity of the water. 

3. It raises or lowers the temperature of the water in the 
basins, to the required degrees of heat. 

4. It saves three-fourths of the fuel, increases the quan- 
tity of the produce of labor, which may be estimated at 



APPENDIX. 373 

one-tenth, and improves the quality and brilliancy of the 
raw silk.* 

Mr. D'Homergue intends, if his offers are accepted, to 
import this valuable apparatus, in the first place, as a mo- 
del, which will soon be imitated, and perhaps improved 
by our ingenious workmen ; and, also, to enable him to 
instruct the sixty young men in the knowledge of all its 
parts, and in the use of it. It is very complicated, and 
requires great care in packing and forwarding. It consists 
of a great number of pieces, which must be all marked 
and numbered, in order that it may be properly put 
up on its arrival. It requires therefore, the aid of a 
person profoundly skilled in the business. Mr. D'Ho- 
mergue proposes to employ his father. He would ex- 
pect that this apparatus, and what other machinery he 
should think it necessary to import, during the three years, 
should be free of duty. 

By means of this plan, the United States would be in 
possession at the end of the contemplated period, of the 
means of offering to the markets of Europe and of this 
country, raw silk, of all its different qualities, in the high- 
est perfection. The committee will have observed in the 
Lyons memorial, how much importance is attached to the 
perfection of the filature, and what complaints are made 
of the want of uniformity in the silk produced. It would 
be a most essential point, that the first raw silk which 
shall come out of the American filatures, should be as per- 
fect as possible, and uniformly so, because in addition to 



* This description is somewhat altered from the original. Mr. 
T)u Ponceau had misunderstood the explanation given to him. A 
few similar errors found their way into the essays of 1829, which 
are all to be ascribed to him, to whom the subject was at that 
time entirely new. He has authorized the insertion of this note. 

33 



374 APPENDIX. 

the superior beauty of the material, it would at once give 
a name to American silk, which would establish its repu- 
tation on a solid basis, and make it every where sought 
for and purchased in a manner with the eyes shut. If the 
United States are determined to introduce this manufacture 
into this country, the committee will be sensible that it 
should not be done partially, and that as little as possible 
should be left to chance hereafter. A good method intro- 
duced every where, at once from the beginning, will with 
difficulty degenerate. 

If this plan should be adopted and carried into execu- 
tion, it will follow, that, at the end of the three years' in- 
struction, three sorts of filatures may and will be immedi- 
ately introduced into the different parts of the United 
States. 1. Large filatures, of thirty reels and upwards, 
moved by horse or water power, or by steam. 2. Mid- 
dle sized filatures, of six reels and upwards, moved by 
hand in the ordinary way. 3. Small or domestic fila- 
tures, of five reels and below ; these would employ the 
farmers' wives and daughters, and the slave population, 
through the country. The difference in the perfection 
of the silk between that which is reeled with GensouFs 
apparatus, and that reeled in the ordinary way, is hardly 
perceptible, when the directors are good, and the reelers 
are attentive, and have been well instructed. 

The reason why, in France, the silk reeled upon farms 
obtains a less price than that reeled in filatures, is, that the 
peasants' wives and daughters follow an antiquated rou- 
tine, as has been mentioned. In this country the method 
would be uniform every where. Negligence and inatten- 
tion alone could produce a difference in the value of the 
silk reeled in farm houses, and this negligence would carry 
with it is own punishment. The raw silk of China, much 
inferior to that of France, is still sure to find purchasers ; 



APPENDIX. 375 

and there is little doubt but that it must be, in time super- 
seded by American silk. 

When the art of reeling silk shall have been thus esta- 
blished through the country, it is to be expected that the 
article will abound in the land ; and particularly if mea- 
sures are taken, as will be presently mentioned, for pro- 
moting the planting and growth of mulberry trees. Mr. 
D'Homergue then will have a great many competitors in 
the business of filature, which if monopolized, would have 
enriched him ; consequently, it will be his interest, and it 
is his intention, if this plan succeeds, to turn his attention 
to manufactures, from which he expects he will be able to 
make a competent fortune, and at the same time to enrich 
the country. In this he knows he will also have compe- 
titors, (for it is said there is already in Boston a good Eng- 
lish silk throwster, of the name of Edward Brown, who 
has brought with him the necessary machinery for the ex- 
ercise of his profession,) but Mr. D'Homergue relies on 
his knowledge of the various arts connected with this bu- 
siness, and is not afraid of meeting competitors. 

The course whieh the silk business will take when fila- 
tures of raw silk shall be established through the country, 
is expected to be as follows : 

1. The fringe-makers, who are already numerous in this 
country, will be supplied w r ith the article which they now 
import at a great expense, and in considerable quantities. 
An eminent fringe-maker of this city said, in my presence, 
that he imported raw silk, annually, to the amount of 
$20,000. 

2. The filoselle, or flurt silk, which will issue from the 
filatures, and needs not be thrown, but only carded and 
spun in the usual way, will be immediately employed by 
our industrious workmen in making stockings, caps, vest- 
ings, and other kinds of hosiery. 



376 APPENDIX. 

3. The art of throwing- silk, that is, of giving it the last 
preparation for the loom, is not so difficult of acquisition 
as the art of reeling from the cocoons, which is the founda- 
tion of all ; silk throwsters will come over from England 
and France, and that branch of business will soon spread 
through the country. 

4. The weaving of stuffs Out of the three first qualities 
of raw silk, singles, tram, and organzine, will next follow. 
It cannot be expected that the beautiful gold and silver tis- 
sues and embroidered stuffs, for which the Lyons manu- 
facturers are so eminently distinguished, will be introduc- 
ed for a considerable time. Velvets and satins also will 
be among the last that will be manufactured in America ; 
but the Lyons memorial, if I remember right, says that 
those rich stuffs amount only to one-fourth in value of the 
silk manufactures of France, and that the other three- 
fourths consist of those plain tissues which are yearly im- 
ported to such an immense amount into this country. It 
may be expected, therefore, (such is the opinion of Mr. 
D'Homergue and my own) that the manufactures of plain 
tissues and those of mixed stuffs of silk and wool, and 
cotton and silk, will rapidly extend themselves through the 
United States. There is no extraordinary difficulty in the 
mode of weaving, and Mr. D'Homergue is fully convinced 
that our ingenious and industrious weavers will master that 
business in a short time. 

But all depends on the reeling of the raw silk. It is 
the foundation of all ; the sine qua non, without which, 
all undertakings connected with silk must prove ruinous to 
those who shall venture to embark in them. Fine raw 
silk alone, though it were never employed here, will, 
nevertheless, be a great source of riches as an article of 
commerce. 

I have thus stated to you, Sir, as clearly as I have been 
able, the offer made by Mr. D'Homergue to teach that vat* 



APPENDIX. 377 

liable art, in such a manner as to disseminate it at once* 
through every part of this country. I have shown, in as 
much detail as I have thought necessary to make it well 
understood, the manner in which this proposal is intended 
to be carried into execution ; and, lastly, I have endeavor- 
ed to sketch a view of the effects it may reasonably be ex- 
pected to produce. I have now to state the terms on which 
Mr. D'Homergue is willing to engage himself to its per- 
formance. 

He requires the sum of forty thousand dollars, for which 
he will engage to instruct sixty young men in the art of 
reeling silk from the cocoons, as has been abovementioned. 
He will be, for that sum, at all the expense that will be re- 
quired for carrying the plan into full and complete execu- 
tion, and will never ask or apply for a single cent more, 
by way of advance, reimbursement, reward, compensation, 
or on any other account whatsoever. The forty thousand 
dollars are expected to do the business completely, and to 
leave something at the end for Mr. D'Homergue ; what 
that may be cannot be calculated, but he hopes it will be 
sufficient to enable him to set up for himself in the other 
branches of the silk manufacture that he contemplates. 

He has calculated that it will be necessary that the 
money should be advanced by the United States at the fol- 
lowing periods : 1 . Ten thousand dollars immediately. 

2. Twenty thousand dollars on the first of March, 1831. 

3. Ten thousand dollars on the first of March, 1832. The 
reason for which the sum is doubled for the next year, is, 
that machinery will have to be imported from France, to 
a large amount in the course of that year. The reason 
why the money is thus asked for in advance, is, in order 
that the business may not, at any time, or on any account, 
be retarded for want of funds, and that all may go oil with 
the necessary rapidity. 

Here, Sir, I am well convinced that it cannot be reason- 
33* 



378 APPENDIX. 

ably asked, that this nation should trust with so large a 
sum a young stranger, who has not been above nine months 
in this country, and who can give no pledge of his solva- 
bility in ease of failure. This objection has struck me 
with the same force with which it will strike the commit- 
tee, and I have long been revolving in my mind the means, 
if any could be found, to get over it ; at last I have come 
to the resolution to make the following proposal in my 
own name : 

I have set my whole heart on the introduction of the 
manufacture of silk into this country ; I know it is possi- 
ble, and I know, also, that great honor awaits those who 
shall have been instrumental in it. I am ambitious of that 
honor ; and, moreover, I have committed myself so far in 
recommending this course of proceeding, that I stand in a 
manner pledged for its success. I cannot better prove my 
firm conviction, than by the offer I am now going to make. 

I am willing to interpose my personal responsibility be- 
tween the nation and Mr. D'Homergue ; I offer, to act as 
a trustee, to receive the money, and to see to its applica- 
tion. Mr. D'Homergue is willing to place himself entirely 
under my direction ; and in consequence, I shall be re- 
sponsible for any misuse of the money to be thus placed in 
my hands ; I shall be in fact the director, to whose con- 
trol Mr. D'Homergue will be bound to submit. He shall 
receive no money but through my hands, and I shall see 
to its application. In short, I shall act for the United 
States, in this matter, as I should do for myself, if I were 
in their place. For this service, I shall expect no reward 
or compensation whatever. I am devoted to the object; 
I have leisure and health ; it will be a pleasure to me to 
direct and watch over this great undertaking, and to enjoy 
-its progress, and I shall consider it as a glorious employ- 
ment of the latter years of a long life. 

Now, Sir, that you and the honorable committee maj 



APPENDIX. 379 

not think that I am here guided by unreasonable enthusi- 
asm, I think it right to state to you the grounds on which 
I am induced to make an offer, which, otherwise, might 
be considered by some as at least a rash act, but which is 
only the effect of a strong conviction of the probability, I 
had almost said, of the certainty of success ; indeed, sav- 
ing unforseen accidents, I cannot conceive how the pro- 
ject can fail. My grounds are the following : 

1. Of the talents of Mr. D'Homergue I have not the 
least doubt. His recommendations from Europe are ex- 
plicit on that head. The silk that he has reeled in this 
country has been admired by respectable silk merchants 
from Lyons, now in this country, who are competent 
judges. I enclose a small sample of raw silk, of the qual- 
ity called organzine, which he has reeled in my presence, 
from cocoons sent to him by Thomas Sumter, Esq. of 
Statesburgh, South Carolina. They were most beautiful, 
and of an extraordinary size ; this silk was shown in my 
presence to the fringe maker whom I have already men- 
tioned, who mistook it for that fine silk with which they 
make Valenciennes lace, which he saw sold at Paris for 
$20 a pound; but Mr. D'Homergue admits that it is 
not of that quality. This sample is very small, but there 
were but few cocoons reeled ; and similar samples have 
been distributed among friends, and some sent abroad. 
The committee will, no doubt, be struck with the dazzling 
whiteness of the silk; such is seldom found out of this 
country. 

2, As to the personal character and disposition of Mr. 
D'Homergue, I have had sufficient opportunity of know- 
ing it, in a constant intercourse during nine months. He 
is a modest, ingenuous young man, ambitious of fame, and 
of perfectly correct piinciples. He places in me implicit 
confidence, and is willing to be, as he has hitherto been, 
entirely guided by my counsels. I can rely on his moral 



380 APPENDIX. 

character ; and I have not the least doubt that he will, un- 
der my direction, faithfully execute whatever he shall un- 
dertake to do. 

I now shall state to the committee the reasons which 
convince me that he is the person the best calculated, and, 
perhaps, the only one, through whom the silk manufac- 
tures can be speedily and effectually introduced into this 
country. 

His being the son of an eminent silk manufacturer has 
been attested to me, not only by himself, but by credible 
persons acquainted with his family. - His knowledge is 
not confined to the reeling of silk, but extends to the va- 
rious branches of the silk manufacture. Such persons are 
very rare, even in Europe ; it was a fortunate accident that 
brought Mr. D'Homergue into this country. Silk reelers 
may be found, silk throwsters, also, and manufacturers 
skilled in particular branches ; but none, or very few, and 
none at his age, possessed of so general a knowledge. His 
youth, too, is an immense advantage, as it will identify 
him with the country, and give him time to carry all his 
projects into execution. French reelers cannot be induced 
to leave their country ; and if they could, as they are very 
ignorant, and work mechanically, they would not be able 
to teach the art as Mr. D'Homergue can. Directors of 
filatures are, in general, men of an advanced age, with fami- 
lies, well compensated for their labor ; these could only 
with great difficulty be obtained ; and it is very doubtful 
whether their talents for instructing would be equal to their 
pretensions, which, no doubt, would be very elevated. I 
consider Mr. D'Homergue as an important acquisition to 
this country. 

Thus, Sir, I have ventured to lay before you and the 
honorable committee a plan for the firm establishment of 
the filature, and eventually, of the manufacture of silk in 
this country ; which, after much reflection, and the most 



APPENDIX. 381 

mature deliberation, has, and still appears to me to be, the 
cheapest, the easiest, and the most effectual, to produce 
this result completely, and in the shortest space of time 
possible. Permit me, before I conclude, to submit a few- 
observations. 

1. I believe it must be admitted, that, if the object can 
be attained for the sum of forty thousand dollars, without 
any further expense to the United States, it will be, con- 
sidering its value, the cheapest purchase that ever was 
made. When we consider the sacrifices which the sove- 
reigns of Europe have made for the same object, the no- 
ble rewards that they have given to individuals under simi- 
lar circumstances ; and when we consider, particularly, 
that, at the present moment, the government of France is 
called upon, by the merchants of Lyons, to expend the 
sum of $120,000, in bounties to the owners of filatures, 
merely to induce them to purchase and use an expensive ma- 
chinery, that the preparation of raw silk, long since known 
and practised in that country, may be uniformly carried to 
the highest degree of perfection, we may be able to judge 
of the importance and of the value in which is held in Eu- 
rope that fundamental branch of the silk trade, on the per- 
fection of which every thing else depends ; and we are 
unavoidably led to the conclusion that forty thousand dol- 
lars is a trifling sum, indeed, for securing the introduction 
generally and uniformly through our country of so valua- 
ble an art. 

As relates to Mr. D'Homergue, I do not think that less, 
in justice, can be offered to him, undertaking as he does 
to bear all the expenses. From the view he has taken of 
the subject, he does not expect, at the end of the three 
years, to have much more than the materiel of the esta- 
blishment, which will, of eourse, remain to him, and per- 
haps some money. If it were otherwise, it appears to 
me a just principle, that he who makes a nation's fortune, 



382 APPENDIX. 

should make his own. But Mr. D'Homergue does not 
expect to make his fortune by the execution of this plan, 
but only to be put in the way of making it by future exer- 
tions, which will also be highly beneficial to the country. 

2. I regret very much that, as the committee contem- 
plated, the execution of this plan cannot take place in the 
District of Columbia ; but several weighty reasons are 
opposed to it. In the first place, there are not in that Dis- 
trict the resources that are to be found in one of our large 
cities. 2ndly: In the employment of women, the differ- 
ences of color might present great obstacles, which will 
not exist when several reeling establishments will be scat- 
tered through the States. 3rdly: I have already stated the 
difficulties which Mr. D'Homergue would find in his con- 
nexions with strangers, and which might eventually pro- 
duce a failure in the project ; and I am also convinced that, 
from my knowledge of him, his character and disposition, 
from the confidence that he places in me, and from my 
having become, in some degree, familiar with the subject 
of silk, and the various modes of employing it, he would 
more willingly place himself under my direction, than that 
of other persons with whom he might not so freely com- 
municate. Under these circumstances, Philadelphia seems 
to be the place where the plan in question, if adopted, 
should be executed. 

Nor does it seem very material where the sixty young 
Americans are taught, since their instruction is to take so 
short a time, and their acquired knowledge so soon to be 
diffused through the whole land. It would have been dif- 
ferent if a permanent school were to have been established, 
as seems to have been contemplated by the committee. Ac- 
cording to the proposed plan, the school will be only tem- 
porary ; and, in the course of two summers, the instruc- 
tion of the young citizens will have been begun and com- 
pleted. 



APPENDIX. 383 

One more observation remains for me to make. 

Whatever plan may be pursued for the introduction of 
the filature of raw silk into the United States, it will be 
indispensably necessary to take measures, at the same time, 
to increase the quantity of cocoons. It will be sufficient for 
that purpose, to encourage the planting of the white Italian 
mulberry tree, because, when it shall abound through the 
country, silk worms and cocoons will naturally follow. I 
would, therefore, take the liberty to suggest the expedi- 
ency of granting a bounty, for a limited time, say five 
years, of dollars for every three thousand such mul- 
berry trees, of three years' growth; and if it should be 
wished to extend the benefit of it to small cultivators, then 
a proportionate sum for every thousand. The amount of 
the bounty should depend on the greater or lesser proba- 
bility that there is of its producing the desired effect, so as 
to obtain the greatest possible quantity of mulberry trees at 
the least possible expense to the United States. I do not 
profess to be a judge in this matter. Mr. D'Homergue, 
on the supposition that the citizens would immediately and 
generally turn their attention to the planting of those trees, 
proposed fifty dollars for every three thousand ; a gentle- 
man from Indiana county, in this State, on whose judg- 
ment I place great reliance, on a contrary supposition, pro- 
posed one hundred dollars for the same quantity. But 
this is a matter on which the members of the Legislature 
are most competent to decide. If such a bounty were 
granted, it appears to me that no other legislative measure 
would be required. 

I have endeavored, in this communication to be as clear, 
and, at the same time, as brief as possible ; I am not sure, 
however, that I have succeeded. Should any further in- 
formation be wanted from Mr. D'Homergue, or myself, it 



384 APPENDIX. 

will be given with great pleasure, and every question rea* 
dily answered. 

I have the honor to be, 

With the highest consideration and respect, 
Sir, your most obedient 

And very humble servant, 

PETER S. DTJ PONCEAU. 
Hon. Ambrose Spencer, 

Chairman of the Committee of Agriculture of the 
House of Representatives of the United States. 



No. 4. 
Mr. Spencer's letter to Mr. Du Ponceau. 

Washington, March 4th, 1830. 

Dear Sir: — I ought to apologize to you for my seem- 
ing neglect in leaving your communication to the Commit- 
tee on Agriculture of the 23d ultimo, so long unanswered, 
the reason of this delay is, that I wished to be able to state 
to you the views of the committee in relation to it. We 
have had the subject under consideration, and have agreed 
to your proposition, every member assenting thereto, except 
Mr. Wilson, who was out of town. 

I can scarcely express to you the admiration your com- 
munication excited. To see a man of your age engaging 
so zealously in a plan promising such a rich harvest of re- 
ward to the whole country, presents a spectacle of devotion 
and patriotism, rarely seen in these days. 

It shall be my first object to draw up a report, but I fear 
that I must yet trouble you further, in requesting you To 
draw a bill, and I will give you some suggestions in rela- 
tion to it, to be followed or not, as you think best, desiring 
you to frame such a one as meets your own views. 

1st. As to the $40,000, ought it not to be payable to 
you, for the purposes specified in the bill ? Mr. D' Homer- 



APPENDIX. 385 

gue is a stranger, and there may be objections to placing 
in his hands that sum, my wish is to encounter as few ob- 
jections in the details as possible. 

2d. Would it not be advisable to place the designation 
of the sixty pupils in the chief executive magistrate of each 
state ? They are better able to make the designation, than 
any officer of the general government. 

3d. Ought not the pupils to be taken from the states in the 
proportion of their population or representation in the House 
of Representatives, giving every state one pupil? 

4th. Should there not be some police established for the 
government of the pupils? On this subject, I have no 
very definite ideas, and I submit the whole to your consi- 
deration, asking only as speedy a reply as your conveni- 
ence will admit. 

Most Respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

A. SPENCER. 
Peter S. Du Ponceau, Esq. 

No. 5. 
From the same to the same. 

Washington, March 13th, 1830. 
Dear Sir, 

Yesterda}^ I made a report to the House, stating suc- 
cinctly the principal points of view which rendered it im- 
portant to make provision by law, for securing the services 
of Mr. D'Homergue, as an instructor in the art of filature. 
I presented at the same time the bill you so kindly drew, 
and which entirely met the views of the committee ; and 
3-our letter to me, detailing your opinion and reasons in 
relation to the school. We added one clause to the bill, 
in order to secure its passage and to do away objections. 
It confers authority on the President to suspend the pay- 
ments of the money, if it shall be made to appear to him, 
34 



386 APPENDIX. 

that from misconduct on the part of Mr. D'Homergue, the 
objects of the bill are likely to be frustrated. 

The report, and bill and documents, were committed to 
the Committee of the Whole on the state of the union, 
and ordered to be printed ; as soon as they are printed I 
will send you several copies* 

I cannot but hope there will be wisdom enough in the 
Congress to carry this bill into a law. If this shall hap- 
pen, you will have secured to yourself a title to the grati- 
tude of your adopted country, and I shall have the satis- 
faction of being an humble auxiliary in this good work. 
Most truly, 

Yours, 

A. SPENCER. 
Peter S» Du Ponceau, Esq. 



No. 6. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF 

THE UNITED STATES. 

March 12th, 1830. 
The Committee on Agriculture, who were instructed by 
a resolution to inquire into the expediency of adopting 
measures to extend the cultivation of the white mul- 
berry tree in the United States ; to promote the culture 
of silk, by introducing the necessary machinery for 
reeling the same from cocoons; and for acquiring and 
disseminating practical knowledge therein ; make the 
following report in part ; 

That the committee have been greatly aided in their in- 
quiries on these important subjects by essays published re- 
cently by Mr. John D'Homergue, a native of France, who 
came to the United States during the last summer. Mr. 
D'Homergue, being unacquainted with our language, has 
been assisted in the writing these essays by Peter S. Du 
Ponceau, Esq. of whom it is unnecessary to speak, he be- 
ing extensively known as a gentleman of the most patri- 



APPENDIX. 387 

otic views, possessing great scientific attainments, and an 
unblemished character. The committee, therefore, con- 
sider these essays, and the facts contained in them, as en- 
titled to high confidence. 

Among the facts developed are several of an important 
nature. It appears that American silk is superior in qual- 
ity to that produced in any other country. In France and 
Italy, twelve pounds of cocoons are required to produce 
one pound of raw silk, whilst eight pounds of American 
cocoons will produce one pound of raw silk. That co- 
coons cannot be exported to a foreign market from several 
causes, their bulk, their liability to spoil by moulding on 
shipboard, and because they cannot be compressed without 
rendering them incapable of being afterwards reeled. 

It is further demonstrated in these essays, and in a me- 
morial lately presented by the manufacturers of silk stuffs 
of Lyons, in France, to the Minister of commerce and 
manufactures, that the art of filature can only be ac- 
quired by practical instruction, by some one intimately ac- 
quainted with, and accustomed to, that process. That no hu- 
man skill or ingenuity, unaided by practical instruction, is 
capable of acquiring that art, to any profitable extent. It 
is made manifest, that, although the culture of silk has been 
carried on for many years in some parts of the United States, 
and more particularly in Connecticut, it has been conduct- 
ed very unprofitably, compared with what the results might 
have been, if the art of filature had been understood. The 
sewing silk made in Connecticut is from the best of silk, 
and is, after all, quite inferior to that of France and Italy ; 
in these latter countries, sewing silk is manufactured from 
imperfect cocoons, or from refuse silk. It appears, also, 
that, unless the silk is properly reeled from the cocoons, 
it is never afterwards susceptible of use in the finer fabrics. 

It is a gratifying consideration to the committee, that 
the benefits from the culture of silk, and the acquisition 



388 APPENDIX. 

of the art of reeling the same, will be common to every 
part of the United States. The climate of every State in 
the Union is adapted to the culture of silk ; hatching the 
eggs of the silk worm may be accelerated or retarded to 
suit the putting forth the leaves of the mulberry. That 
tree is easily propagated from the seeds of the fruit, and is 
adapted to almost any soil. 

The committee regard the general culture of silk as of 
vast national advantage in many points of view. If zeal- 
ously undertaken and prosecuted, it will, in a few years, 
furnish an article of export of great value ; and thus the 
millions paid by the people of the United States for silk 
stuffs will be compensated for by the sale of our raw silk. 
Th^importation of silk during the year which ended on 
the 30th of September, 1828, amounted to $8,463,563, of 
which $1,274,461 were exported; but, in the same year, 
the exportation of bread stuffs from this country amounted 
only to $5,414,665, leaving a balance against us of nearly 
two millions. The committee anticipate, that, at a period 
not remote, when we shall be in possession of the finest 
material produced in any country, the manufacture of silk 
stuffs will necessarily be introduced into the United States. 

The culture of silk promises highly moral benfits, in the 
employment of poor women and children in a profitable 
business, whilst it will detract nothing from agricultural or 
manufacturing labor. The culture of silk will greatly 
benefit those States which have abundant slave labor, the 
value of whose principal productions, particularly in the 
article of cotton, has been depressed by over production. 
It is well ascertained, that, although France produces with- 
in herself much silk, she pays annually more than $20,- 
000,000 for imported silk. The committee have been 
unable to ascertain the amount of raw silk purchased from 
other countries in England, but they are satisfied the 
amount is large ; and that, in these countries alone, a ready 



APPENDIX. 389 

market can be found for all the raw silk raised in the Uni- 
ted States for many years to come. 

The committee have, through their chairman, corres- 
ponded with Mr. Du Ponceau, and this report is accom- 
panied with a communication from that most respectable 
man and useful citizen, exhibiting his matured views on this 
interesting subject Mr. D'Homergue is now in Phila- 
delphia, and unless sufficient inducements are offered to 
him to remain in this country, he will very soon leave it 
forever. He possesses, in an eminent degree, all the prac- 
tical knowledge necessary as an instructor in the theory 
and practice of the art of reeling silk from cocoons, and 
manufacturing the same into the various forms and qualities 
of raw silk known in the silk trade, having from his infancy 
been instructed in all the various processes. It is believed 
to be almost impossible to procure from Europe another 
person so competent to impart a knowledge of these arts as 
Mr. D'Homergue is. The acquisition of his services and 
instruction is invaluable ; and in the opinion of the com- 
mittee, if he be suffered to leave the United States at this 
period, it would be a national misfortune. In the confi- 
dent belief that Congress will, unhesitatingly, provide for 
the appropriation of a small and insignificant sum of mo- 
ney, in promoting a measure which cannot fail to realize 
to the nation such rich results, the committee have pre- 
pared a bill, which they beg leave to present. 



No. 7. 
Twenty-first Congress— Second Session. — In the House 
of Representatives. 

December 13th, 1830. 
The Speaker laid before the House the following com- 
munication : 
Sir, 

You will receive with this letter a silken flag *bear- 
34* 



390 APPENDIX. 

ing the colors of the United States. This flag is made 
entirely of American silk, reeled from the cocoons, pre- 
pared and woven by John D'Homergue, Silk Manufac- 
turer. The coloring has been done by the best artist he 
could procure in the city of Philadelphia; he himself not 
professing to be a dyer. 

The staff of this flag, with the eagle, measures about 
fifteen feet ; the flag itself is twelve and a half long, and 
six feet wide. It is woven in one piece, without a seam. 
I beg, sir, you will be so good as to present this flag, 
most respectfully in my name, to the honorable House 
over which you preside, as a sample of American indus- 
try, thus applied, for the first time, to the most valuable 
©f American productions, and as a result of the efforts 
they have made during the last five years, for the promo- 
tion of the important branch of agriculture to which we 
owe the rich material of which this flag is composed. 
I have the honor to be, 

With the highest respect, Sir, 
Your most obedient 

And most humble servant, 

PETER S. DU PONCEAU. 
Hon. Andrew Stevenson, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Ordered, That the said communication be referred to 
the Committee on Agriculture. 

December 21st. 
Mr. Spencer, of New York, from the Committee on 
Agriculture to which was referred, on the 13th inst., the 
letter of Peter S. Du Ponceau, announcing his presenta- 
tion to the House of a silken flag, bearing the colors of 
the United States, made of American silk, reeled from co- 
coons and prepared and woven by John D'Homergue, 
made a report thereon ; which was read, and the resolution 
therein submitted, viz : 



APPENDIX. 391 

lt Resolved, That the flag bearing the colours of the 
United States, presented to this House by Peter S. Du 
Ponceau, of Philadelphia, made of American silk ; prepar- 
ed and woven by John D'Homergue, Silk Manufacturer, 
in the city of Philadelphia, be accepted by this House, and 
that it be displayed, under the direction of the Speaker, in 
some conspicuous part of the hall of sittings of this 
House." 

Having been read, Mr. Alexander moved to lay the reso- 
lution on the table ; which motion being disagreed to, the 
said resolution was concurred in by the House. 

February 9th, 1831. 

On motion of Mr. Spencer, of New York, 

Ordered, That the Committee of the Whole House to 
which is committed the bill (No. 345) for promoting the 
growth and manufacture of silk, be discharged from the 
consideration thereof, and that the said be committed to the 
Whole House on Monday next. 



No. 8. 
Twenty-second Congress — First Session. 

December 14th, 1831. 
The Speaker laid before the House a letter from Peter 
S. Du Ponceau, of Philadelphia, dated December 9th, 
1831, upon the subject of the culture and manufacture of 
silk ; which letter was referred to the Committee on Ag- 
riculture. 

January 20, 1832. 

Mr. Root, from the Committee of Agriculture, to which 
was referred a letter from Peter S. Du Ponceau of Phila- 
delphia, on the culture and manufacture of silk, made a re- 
port thereon, accompanied by a bill (No. 294) for promo- 
ting the growth and manufacture of silk ; which bill was 
read the first and second time, and committed to a Com- 
mittee of the Whole House to-morrow. 



392 APPENDIX. 

Thursday, February 2. 

On motion of Mr. Root, 

Ordered, That the Committee of Agriculture, to which 
is committed the bill (294) for promoting the growth and 
manufacture of silk, be discharged, and that the bill be 
committed to a Committee of the Whole House, and made 
the special order for Tuesday the 7th instant. 

February 16. 

The House proceeded to the consideration of the bill 
(No. 294) for the growth and manufacture of silk, (and of 
another bill) whereupon it was 

Ordered, That the consideration of the said bills be 
postponed until Monday next. 

March 12. 

Mr. Root presented a memorial of the New York State 
Agricultural Society, praying that the bill now pending be- 
fore this House (No. 294) for promoting the growth and 
manufacture of silk, may speedily be passed into a law, or 
that such other measures may be adopted, as, in the wis- 
dom of Congress, may seem meet for the encouragement 
of the growth and manufacture of silk ; which memorial 
was referred to the committee of the Whole House to which 
said bill is committed. 

May 10. 
The Speaker communicated to the House a letter from 
Peter Stephen Duponceau, stating sundry reasons why it 
is important to the nation that the bill, now pending be- 
fore this House, " for promoting the growth and manufac- 
ture of silk," should be acted upon as soon as possible; 
and, above all, that it should not be suffered to lie over the 
present session ; which communication was committed to 
the Committee of the Whole House to which the said bill 
is committed. The letter is as follows *: 



* This letter is printed among- the public documents, and 
marked, Document No. 232, House of Representatives. 



APPENDIX. 393 

Washington, 8th May, 1832. 
Sir— 

The present session of Congress being far advanced, 
and business pressing on your honorable House from every 
side, I think it my duty to solicit again their attention to 
the bill "for promoting the growth and manufacture of 
silk," now pending before them, and to state some 
reasons why it is important to the nation that it should be 
acted upon as soon as possible, and, above all things, that 
it should not be suffered to go over the present session. 

As there are many members of the present House who 
are unacquainted with the history of this bill, and who may 
not understand on what grounds I take the liberty to ad- 
dress them through you, I beg leave to give here a brief 
statement of it, which, while it serves as my apology, will, 
I believe, throw some additional light on the important 
subject to which your attention is most respectfully request- 
ed. 

When, at the beginning of the first session of the last 
Congress, I had the honor to present to them a copy of 
the " Essays on American Silk," then lately published by 
Mr. D'Homergue and myself, I had nothing in view but 
to give them a mark of my profound respect, and, at the 
same time, through them, to extend the knowledge of the 
facts which the book contains. I was highly nattered by 
the honor which the House did to that little work, by re- 
ferring it to their Committee on Agriculture ; still, I had 
no idea that that reference would lead to the recommen- 
dation of a legislative measure. 

The idea of deriving a national advantage from the ex- 
portation of raw silk was entirely new, at that time, in the 
United States. Until then, the culture of that rich produc- 
tion of our soil had been considered only with a view to 
domestic manufactures. This is so true, that, in the able 



394 APPENDIX. 

report of the Committee on Agriculture, made to the House 
on the 2d of May, 1826, in the Manual that was prepared 
and published on their recommendation ; and in the an- 
swers that were sent from all parts of the United States to 
the then Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Rush, in conse- 
quence of his circular queries, (as far as those answers 
have come to my knowledge,) the importance of the ex- 
portation of raw silk, as an article of commerce, is not any 
where suggested. Thus, our agriculture, as far as silk is 
concerned, was considered only as auxiliary to domestic 
manufactures ; while the idea first thrown out and devel- 
oped in the "Essays," contemplates solely the advantage 
of the agricultural interest of our country, which alone is 
to be benefited by the sale of our produce to foreign na- 
tions in the form of a raw material, manufactures may 
follow or not, as it may happen. In either case, our coun- 
try is to be benefited by the sale of an article exclusively 
the fruit of agricultural industry. When we consider that 
the small country of Piedmont exported, in the year 1829, 
near five millions of pounds of her raw and thrown silks, 
we shall better understand the value of this suggestion. 
France does not permit the exportation of her silks, unless 
manufactured. 

These reflections could not but forcibly strike the minds 
of the enlightened committee to whom the work was re- 
ferred. That committee did me the honor to address me 
through their chairman, and desired my interference to 
retain Mr. D'Homergue in this country. I was requested 
by them to ask him on what terms he would accept to be 
placed at the head of a national school of filature ; in con- 
sequence of which, after having ascertained the lowest 
terms that could reasonably be offered to him, and obtained 
his assent, not without difficulty, as his pretensions were 
higher, and these I found justified afterwards by a letter 
from his father, in which, appealing to his experience of 



APPENDIX. 395 

forty years, he told him that forty thousand dollars would 
hardly be sufficient to enable him to execute what he had 
undertaken ; I submitted a plan, which the committee im- 
mediately adopted, and presented to the House in the form 
of the present bill, to which they subjoined my letter to 
them, and an able report, warmly recommending the mea- 
sure, in which is found this remarkable expression, that it 
would be a national misfortune if Mr. D'Homergue were 
suffered to leave this country. 

That report was made on the 12th of March, 1830. 
The session was then far advanced, and the House could 
do no more before their adjournment than order six thou- 
sand copies of the report, with my letter to the committee, 
and the "Essays on American Silk," to be printed. The 
Senate, to whom a copy of that work had been also pre- 
sented, referred it to their Committee on Agriculture and 
manufactures, with whom I had some correspondence, 
which, however, produced no result, as the subject had 
been so fully taken up by the House of Representatives. 

Under these circumstances, sir, I thought myself in hon- 
or, if not in duty bound to justify the confidence placed in 
me by retaining Mr. D'Homergue in this country, at least 
until another session of Congress. At the same time, I 
determined to prove to Congress, and to the nation, by the 
evidence of facts, the great importance of the contemplated 
measure, so that it might be popular by the time it should 
come again before the National Legislature. I went with 
Mr. D'Homergue to Connecticut, to see how the people 
there managed the silk culture, and their so much spoken 
of domestic manufacture of sewing silk. My object in 
going thither was also to purchase cocoons, of which how- 
ever, I could obtain but a small quantity, as the people 
thought that they might employ them otherwise to more 
advantage. We, therefore, supplied ourselves, in that and 
the succeeding year, from other sources. On my return 
to Philadelphia, I erected an experimental filature under 



396 APPENDIX. 

the direction of Mr. D'Homergue, in which American wo- 
men were instructed in the art of preparing raw silk for 
exportation. As there was not time before the then next 
session of Congress to obtain information from Europe of 
the results of these experiments, I prevailed on Mr. D'Ho- 
mergue, although without much of the requisite machine- 
ry, to manufacture, himself, in various forms, a part of the 
silk prepared at the filature. It was not until the end of 
the last session of Congress, that we obtained proofs from 
abroad, that our raw silk was esteemed in foreign coun- 
tries, and might become a valuable article in our commerce 
with other nations. The details of these experiments and 
their results at home and abroad, have been made known 
to the House in former communications. 

The last session was short, and a great part of it taken 
up by a State trial in the Senate, at which the members of 
the House attended. The House, however, showed its 
favorable disposition towards the bill, by fixing a day 
for its discussion ; but, more pressing business interven- 
ing, that discussion did not take place, and Congress ad- 
journed, of necessity, on the day appointed by the consti- 
tution. 

At that time, sir, Mr. D'Homergue had received tempt- 
ing offers from a foreign minister, then at Washington, 
and was hesitating whether or not he would accept them. 
The fact was known to many members of the late Con- 
gress, who considered it of the highest importance that 
Mr. D'Homergue should stay in this country, at least, to 
wait the result of the present session. To obtain that end, 
a paper was signed on the very day of the adjournment 
of the late Congress, by eighty-nine members of the House 
of Representatives, in which, without presuming to predict 
what might be done by a future Congress, they did not 
hesitate to give it as their decided opinion, that, if the bill 
had been considered at that session, " it would have met 
with the approbation of the House of Representatives." 



APPENDIX. 397 

That paper was brought to Philadelphia, and delivered to 
me by the Hon. Ambrose Spencer. 

Under such circumstances, what could I do 1 However 
inconvenient it might be to me to continue the efforts I had 
begun, that was not now an object for my consideration. 
A market had been established at Philadelphia for cocoons, 
and they were bringing in for sale from various parts of the 
country. To have discontinued that market at once, would 
have discouraged the farmers, and checked the impulse 
which Congress had been giving to the silk culture since 
the year 1826; and, what would have been worse, Mr. 
D'Homergue might have accepted some of the offers made 
him, and left this country. I therefore determined to per- 
severe ; the cocoons were purchased, the women hired, 
and the filature again set to work, not as a business, or 
with a view to any profit, but as a continuation of former 
experiments. Mr. D'Homergue was persuaded to remain 
in the United States, and to reject the offers made to him 
by the foreign minister to whom I have alluded, and by 
another, then in Philadelphia, who made overtures to him 
in my presence. 

The period having arrived for the opening of the pre- 
sent session of Congress, I had the honor of addressing 
a letter to you, requesting that you would place the subject 
before the eyes of your honorable House. I had the sa- 
tisfaction to see that my letter was promptly referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture. Encouraged by this favora- 
ble token, and determined that no effort should be want- 
ing, on my part, to promote so important a measure, I re- 
solved to accompany Mr. D'Homergue to this city, that 
he and I might be on the spot to give to the members all 
the explanations that they might require. We attended 
together the Committee on Agriculture, who brought in the 
former bill with a report not less favourable to it than that 
of their predecessors. The order of the House, which 
35 



398 APPENDIX. 

soon after followed, to place that bill among the special or- 
ders of the day, convinced me of the high importance which 
they attach to the subject ; and I should not think it neces- 
sary to trouble them or you with this letter, if the session 
were not so far advanced, and the prospect of the bill's 
being taken into consideration during its continuance dimin- 
ishing every day. At any rate, the part I have taken in 
this business, in consequence of the facts I have stated, 
and which I have continued to take as long as my means 
would permit, until prudence warns me to desist, if the 
House should postpone its decision to another session* 
will, I hope, be accepted as an apology for what other- 
wise might be considered as an officious and unwarranted 
intrusion. 

I beg to be permitted to take this opportunity to say, 
that, from my own observation, and the information of 
others, and particularly of editors of newspapers, who, by 
exchanging their journals, have the best means of know- 
ing the feelings of the people at large, the measure con- 
templated by this bill is highly popular among all classes 
of men, but particularly the agriculturists throughout the 
whole Union ; and I am satisfied that, if passed into a law, 
it will give general satisfaction. I am further convinced 
of this, and that the postponement of the bill will cause 
great disappointment among the farmers who have turned 
their thoughts to the silk culture, by the letters which I 
receive from all parts of the United States, which general- 
ly end with the query, whether there will be a market 
for cocoons this year at Philadelphia ? which question I 
am unable to answer. This inquiry has lately been made 
by the inhabitants of the silk district, in Connecticut, who 
two years ago, were unwilling to sell their cocoons, be- 
cause they thought they could manufacture them to better 
advantage, but now appear to entertain a different opinion. 
From the southern States, similar inquiries are made ; 
and, since I have been in this city, I have been informed 



APPENDIX. 399 

that cocoons had been sent for sale to Philadelphia from 
North and South Carolina, but could find no purchaser, 
as it would be idle in me to purchase that produce, to 
throw away afterwards if the silk bill shall not pass. I 
ought to add that several State Legislatures have made 
laws to encourage the culture of the mulberry tree, and 
the breeding of silk worms, in contemplation of the pass- 
ing of that bill. I fear that if a check be given to this 
strong impulse by the discontinuing of a market for co- 
coons, it will be difficult hereafter to revive it ; and, with- 
out the silk bill, I do not see how that market can be con- 
tinued. 

As I was going to conclude this letter, I received, from 
Philadelphia, extracts from a series of public documents 
lately presented to the American Philosophical Society, 
by Don J. M. Tornel, late Minister from Mexico to the 
United States. Among those documents, are official re- 
ports, in which it is stated that the want of the knowledge 
of the art of reeling is the only thing that prevents the cul- 
ture of silk from flourishing in that Republic ; and I ought 
to add, that it is known to me that overtures have been made 
to Mr. D'Homergue, on the part of that government, to 
induce him to enter into their service. 

Thus, sir, three foreign governments have endeavored 
to obtain the aid of Mr. D'Homergue to introduce or per- 
fect the art of reeling silk among them. This shows that it is 
not so easy, as some have imagined, to obtain persons thus 
qualified from other countries : and that this nation is pos- 
sessed of an opportunity, which, if it should suffer to es- 
cape, it may long, very long, have cause to regret here- 
after. 

The only object of this letter is to endeavor to convince 
your honorable House of the high importance of this bill, 
in the confident expectation that it will be finally acted up- 
on by Congress at the present session. In doing so, I 
conceive I am performing a duty, which, if I were to neg- 



400 APPENDIX. 

lect, I would have cause to reproach myself for it forever 
after. 

I have the honour to be, with the highest respect, 
Sir, your most obedient and very humble servant, 

PETER S. DU PONCEAU. 
Hon. Andrew Stevenson, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives 

of the United States. 

May 22. 

The House Resolved itself into a Committee of the 
Whole House on the bill (No. 294) for promoting the 
growth and manufacture of silk ; and, after some time spent 
therein, the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Barrin- 
ger reported the said bill to the House with amendments. 

May 23. 

The House proceeded to the consideration of the bill 
(No. 294) for promoting the growth and manufacture of 
silk: when 

A motion was made by Mr. Polk, that the enacting 
words of the said bill be stricken out. 

And, after debate thereon, 

A motion was made by Mr. Wickliffe, that the said bill 
be recommitted — with instructions to inquire into the ex- 
pediency of so amending the same as to establish at the 
public expense, a filature for reeling silk, and for the em- 
ployment of suitable superintendents for the same, and of 
providing for the instruction of pupils in the art of reeling 
silk. 

And, on the question, Shall the said bill be recommitted 
with instructions ? 

It was decided in the negative. 

The question was then put on the motion of Mr. Polk 
to strike out the enacting words of said bill ; 

And passed in the affirmative, < N avs " . , 71 
And so the bill was rejected. 



APPENDIX. 
D. 

Proceedings in the Legislature of Pennsylvania on the 
presentation of a flag made of American Silk, bear- 
ing the colors of the United States. 
From the Harrisbui'g Reporter, Friday, January 6, 1831. 
AMERICAN SILK. 
A very beautiful flag manufactured by Mr. D 1 Homer gue 
of Philadelphia, from silk the growth and produce of this 
state, was a few days since presented to the Legislature 
by Peter S. Du Ponceau, Esq., accompanied by a letter 
from that gentleman. The letter was referred to a com- 
mittee in the House of Representatives, consisting of 
Messrs. Jngersoll, Bead, of Susquehanna, and Craft ; 
and Mr. Ingersoll from that committee, on the 14th inst. 
made a very appropriate report, accompanied by a resolu- 
tion that the flag be displayed in the House, under the 
direction of the Speaker. Agreeably to the resolution the 
flag has been very tastefully displayed over the Pennsyl- 
vania Arms in rear of and above the Speaker's chair, 
where it at once commands the attention and admiration 
of every one entering the hall of the House. We think it 
a fine specimen of the useful perseverance of its worthy 
donor, and a strong earnest of what may be expected from 
the culture and manufacture of silk in Pennsylvania here- 
after. The following is the letter and report of the com- 
mittee. The report was unanimously adopted. 

Phtladelppiia, Jan, 3, 1831. 
Sir, — I take the liberty of presenting through you to the 
honorable House over which you preside, and of offer- 
ing to their acceptence, a flag, bearing the colors of the 
35* 



402 APPENDIX. 

United States, and made entirely of American silk, by Mr. 
John D'Homergue, of and in the city of Philadelphia. 

The texture of the flag is light and delicate ; more so 
perhaps than it should have been, if my object were not 
by this specimen to show that stuffs of this description may 
be manufactured in this country, from our own native 
material. It is for similar stuffs that we pay annually to 
Europe a tribute of several millions of dollars, considerably 
exceeding the amount that we receive for all our bread 
stuffs. Hitherto the silk that this country produces, has 
been exclusively employed in making sewing silk, and a 
few stockings, gloves, and other like articles of domestic 
manufacture, in which the best material has been used, 
while elsewhere those articles are made of imperfect co- 
coons, and of waste and refuse silk. For more than twen- 
ty years, the inhabitants of a part of the state of Connec- 
ticut, have pursued this unprofitable system, and it is re- 
markable that the silk districts which ought to be the 
richest in that State, are in fact the poorest. There is no. 
market there for their cocoons or silk balls, those who raise 
them are obliged to manufacture them themselves, or they 
will perish on their hands. Nor can they find any cash 
price for the articles they make, so that they must use 
them in their families, or dispose of them by way of bar- 
ter. This system is fast extending itself through the other 
states, and the only use that has hitherto been made of 
the cocoons in Pennsylvania, has been converting them 
into sewing silk, or coarse articles of domestic fabric. 

It is not that manufacturers of fine silk are wanted in 
the United States, we have them in this city of every 
description, seeking employment which they cannot obtain 
for want of raw silk properly prepared. The art of making 
this preparation, which is called reeling, is not known 
among us, though it is generally but most erroneously sup- 
posed to be very simple, while on. the contrary it requires 



APPENDIX. 403 

much instruction and long practice and experience ; and 
those who know and would instruct us in it, cannot with- 
out the greatest difficulty be procured from other countries. 
Without the knowledge of this art, it is impossible to em- 
ploy our silk in a profitable manner, for unless the raw 
material is properly reeled, it cannot be exported abroad 
nor manufactured at home into those fine stuffs for which 
we pay so large an annual amount to foreign countries. 

Having had the good fortune in finding in Mr. D'Homer- 
gue, a person well skilled in that mode of preparing our 
native silk either for exportation or home manufacture, 1 
established, last summer under his direction an experimen- 
tal filature of ten reels, in which twenty women were em- 
ployed ; in consequence of which a market for cocoons was 
immediately opened at Philadelphia, whither they were 
brought for sale from, almost every part of the United States. 
The farmers brought them from different parts of this 
state, and received cash for them, which they had never 
done before. They were brought it is true, in small quanti- 
ties, but thereis no doubt that the culture of silk will be there- 
by promoted, and that in the course of a few years, if this 
important object shall receive the national encouragement, 
which a bill now before Congress gives reason to expect, 
silk worms will be raised in great plenty all over Penn- 
sylvania. The climate being peculiarly well adapted to 
the cultivation of the Mulberry tree, which will thrive even 
in our poorest soil. 

The flag which I have the honour to send to you is of- 
fered as a visible proof of the facts I have just stated, no 
silk stuff «f the same kind has ever been or ever attempted 
in this country, and none can be made without a perfect 
knowledge of the art of preparing the raw material. I beg 
you will be so good as to present this flag most respect- 
fully in my name to your honorable House, as a sample 
of a new and interesting branch of American manufacture ;■ 



404 APPENDIX. 

as a token of my high respect ; and as a proof of my sin- 
cere devotion to the interests of the State of Pennsylva- 
nia, which has been from early youth my cherished home, 
and where I hope with my latest breath, to offer my last 
fervent prayer for her happiness and prosperity. 
I have the honour to be, 

With the highest respect, 

Sir, your most ob'dt humble serv't. 

PETER S. DU PONCEAU. 

To the Hon. Frederick Smith, Speaker of the House 
of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

That this beautiful specimen of American agriculture and 
manufactures, carried through all its process in Pennsyl- 
vania, is a practical result of the utmost importance to the 
wealth and prosperity of the state. Its agriculture has 
long suffered from restriction to certain staples, of which 
the production has increased, while the foreign demand is 
greatly diminished. By the valuable experiments of Mr. 
Da Ponceau and Mr. D'Homergue it is established that the 
climate, the soil, and the waters of Pennsylvania, are emi- 
nently congenial with the culture of silk, which it is be- 
lieved may be cultivated with advantage throughout the 
United States. If so, this inestimable product must become 
a great staple of the country. Adverting to the fact that 
but forty-six years ago, an American vessel with cotton on 
board, was seized at Liverpool under the impression that 
cotton was not the growth of America ; and to the fact, 
that last year more than six hundred and forty thousand 
bags of American cotton were imported at that port, there 
is nothing unreasonable in the anticipation that a similar 
development may attend American silk. 

In every country producing silk, it has become the 



APPENDIX. 405 

fruitful means of industry and wealth. Every manufac- 
turing country incapable of producing, has spared no efforts 
to naturalize it. Added to the other products of this state 
and Union, its benefits must be incalculable. It leaves all 
other employments unimpaired, and affords domestic occu- 
pation to females and children, who may rear the cocoons, 
and reel them into raw silk. Many millions, as Mr. Du 
Ponceau states, are the tribute money paid for it by the 
United States to foreign countries. 

From the increase of the coasting trade of Philadelphia, 
which has nearly trebled itself within the last eight years, 
encouraging and unquestionable proof is afforded, that the 
agriculture, manufactures, and mineral wealth of the state, 
are in active and increasing demand. If, as is understood 
to be the case, vessels loaded with the coal of Pennsylvania 
are destined to sail for France in the ensuing season, the fo- 
reign trade of the state may derive great augmentation from 
that source. Even the quantity of flour exported from Phi- 
ladelphia to Europe has much increased of late ; and wool 
bears better prices throughout the country. 

With these flattering prospects, no aid within the power 
of legislation should be withheld from the endeavor to 
domesticate silk, and unite so important a staple to the 
others. In France, Italy, Flanders, Spain, and England, 
no wealth or honours were spared by government, when 
the object was to cherish and reward the culture of this 
superior article, which, in all ages and nations, from the 
earliest era to the present, has been in universal request 
and of the highest value. 

The flag presented by Mr. Du Ponceau is a proof of the 
natural and artificial resources we possess ; and that in the 
practical skill of Mr. D'Homergue, the country enjoys the 
fortunate means of obtaining all the instruction and demon- 
stration necessary for the complete attainment and indefi- 
nite extension of the difficult art of reeling silk, without 



406 APPENDIX. 

which raw silk for manufacturing, or of the merchantable 
quality saleable in foreign markets cannot be produced. 

The patriotic, disinterested, and most praiseworthy ex- 
ertions of Mr. Du Ponceau to establish the art among us, 
entitle him to the gratitude of the state. They constitute 
another of the public services of a citizen whose career, 
beginning in the army of the revolution, and continued in 
the department of foreign affairs, afterwards distinguished 
by eminent accomplishments in jurisprudence and other 
sciences, has exalted him to become the successor of Jef- 
ferson as president of that Philosophical Society which 
was founded by Franklin. To the duties and distinctions 
of such a career, Mr. Du Ponceau, in the decline of life, 
superadds a noble effort to confer upon his country the in- 
estimable advantages of the introduction of silk, and to join 
that to the many honors of which his venerable years are 
full. 

The committee trust that it will not be deemed inappro- 
priate to display this flag in the hall of the Representatives 
of Pennsylvania, near the Speaker's chair — the same that 
was once filled by the President of that immortal Con- 
gress, which in the city of Philadelphia, declared the in- 
dependence of these United States. 

They therefore respectfully submit the following reso- 
lutions. 

Resolved, That the Representatives of the Common- 
wealth of Pennsylvania accept, with great sensibility and 
satisfaction, the silk flag of the United States, presented to 
them by Peter S. Du Ponceau, as an auspicious promise of 
national wealth and prosperity, and a proof of the patriot- 
ism of the distinguished donor. 

Resolved, That the flag be displayed in a conspicuous 
part of this House under the direction of the Speaker, and 
that the Clerk be directed to communicate to Mr. Du Pon- 
ceau copies of these resolutions and report. 










<* 

■z ' - v 



* A?* - * , '°t- » H ■> \# . . 



•* ^ 



'</' 



:^ 



<P - A\g 



" c> -% 







' J 



^ , . . 



>\^ ' 



V- 


y 




^ 


*%?. 


<-» '^ 






^ 






-^ 



. ^ 



v 0o 









5^ «5 ^ 

i 5 A^ 



o 



V * ' 



^ <V 









if^* ^ 



O0 v 

.A O 






0o. 



^ ^ 



X°°x. 








^ ♦oho' 5 


' /' 


^ 




"/ o 


V s 






> <•£> 








|: ^# 


















";.:-'■' . ; 




s j,U 


^ / 


, s \ 




■N 




A 


*b o* 




-a > 


^ %. ', 




\° °!*> 



>\& 



*' • ■*>. " o - A 



#' % 









,-0 



*,0° 



'-S-. ,V 







- *b 


o x 






^ : ^ 


^ 




'.> " 


>*< 




^ 


# 




jk/// 






V <u 






0o, 










v0 o 



<£^ * 



t/> ^ 









V 






